Warped Minds
by Spazthemax
Summary: The Sequel to "Stranded in Light". Taking place 6 years after the Quadro left Hyrule, Darin leaves Ordon to look for his parents. He meets a mysterious character which he names Nyuu, due to her only saying that. She seems innocent, but her past is dark...
1. Chapter 1

In the clearing just outside Ordon sat three humble cottages. It had been six years since the tree house that used to stand there exploded. The people in Ordon heard the explosion, but when they got there there was there smoking ruin of the tree-house sitting on the scorched and shattered wood that used to be a hollowed-out tree. They found one survivor inside the house, who called himself Alexander, even though that was his middle name. He told them that four others were there at the time of the explosion as well, but no remains were found.

No one knows what happened to Link, Spencer, Midna or Andima.

--

The door to the middle cottage opened, a teenager walking in. He had the mixed appearance of a human and a Twili, with Pale white and black skin, red Glyphs on his arms, but also brown eyes and shaggy hair. He was dressed in A pale tan tunic and boots, attire for traveling. He walked over to the kitchen counter, which had a backpack filled to the brim with food and a bedroll. beside the bag was a short iron sword. He tucked the sword into his belt and swung the backpack on, heading for the door. As he walked out he bumped into a woman.

"Darin! There you are!" Ilia greeted him. She had her short blond hair, blue eyes and usual Ordonian clothing on.

"Please don't try to stop me." Darin said to her, a pleading tone in his voice. Despite being twenty-three years younger, Darin was actually a bit taller than her.

Ilia ignored his request. "Don't go, Darin! It's your birthday! We can't have a party without you!"

"Mom- Ilia. I need to know what happened. At least give me that." Darin was determined.

"We don't know what happened! Just stay here, in the safety of Ordon!" Ilia insisted.

"It's been six years since my parents disappeared. I haven't seen them since..." Darin rose his right hand. "This happened." He let it fall to his side again.

"Dammit, Darin..." Ilia thought of what to say. "It's dangerous out there!" She pointed to the path leading into the woods. "What do you think would happen if you... if you..."

"Died?" Darin finished her sentence. "Then I guess I will have simply vanished. Like Father like Son." He said with a hint of sarcasm, gently pushing Ilia out of the way, who grabbed his tunic's sleeve.

"Please, Darin. Don't go. For me?" Ilia pleaded.

"I'm Fifteen. I'll be fine. I'll come back with everyone... or at least knowledge of what happened to them." Darin brushed her hand off him, then continued to the path into the wood.

Ilia called after him. "Where will you go?!"

Darin simply waved his hand, without turning around.

"What am I going to do with him..." Ilia quietly pondered for a moment, before walking sullenly back into the village.

--

Darin stood before the path leading further into the woods, leaving Ordon springs. He'd never been beyond this point, always told that even with an adult it wasn't safe, with Bokoblins running about. He nervously took his short sword out of his belt, readying himself for battle before continuing through the tunnel.

The careful, nervous, and slow walk was disappointingly uneventful.

Darin looked down the final path he needed to follow to finally reach the huge Hyrule Fields his Father talked about. From there he wasn't sure where to go.

While Darin was standing there thinking, a short man with an Afro double the size of his head sneaked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey buddy, want-"

"AH!" Darin's knee-jerk reaction was to thrust his elbow behind him, hitting the poor man in the face and knocking him over.

"Ow! Kid, I was just trying to do business!" The man got up, rubbing his nose.

"Oh! Er.. Sorry! I am just a bit nervous." Darin apologized.

"I figured. Well... do you want a Lantern?" The man asked.

"What?" Darin just knocked this guy over. Now he's offering a Lantern.

"You know, the little metal-and-glass thing you use with oil and fire to make light?" The Lantern man said.

"I know that! But why are you creeping up on people?" Darin asked, "Is that broken?" He said, referring to the man's nose.

"Nothing a little ruby red won't fix." He pulled out a small bottle and took a gulp of the red goo inside. "Anyway, I sell Lanterns out here in these woods. However for a first time traveler like your self I'll give you one for free."

"How did you know this is my first?" Darin questioned his knowledge.

"No experienced cave crawler is that jumpy during a stroll in the woods." The man said. "Here." He passed an Oil-filled Lantern at Darin, who caught it. "It'll be good until the oil inside runs out."

"What then?" Darin asked, looking at the lamp, then looking towards the lantern man without moving his head.

"Well, I can sell you re-usable bottle full of Oil for one hundred Rupees." The man said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Rupees! I KNEW I forgot something!" Darin face palmed.

"You didn't bring money?!" The man's jaw dropped. "You really are new. I'll hand this to you out of pity." He gave the bottle to Darin. "Now get out of here."

"Huh?" Darin raised his head at the sudden rudeness.

"I'm not terribly fond of people who break my nose."

--

Darin finally saw the wide rolling Hyrule Field, the Castle in the distance. "I guess I know where I'm going. Ugh." He shifted his sore shoulder muscles. "Maybe I did pack too much..." He stopped to sit down on the grass of Hyrule Field and take off his pack. He looked around at the open Hyrule field. "I don't think I've been in such a huge open place before..." Darin murmured to himself. Behind him was the path back into Faron's woods. He sighed and opened his backpack. He pulled out his bedroll, ten pig sandwiches, and 2 large jugs of milk. He ran his fingers through his brown hair. "Hehe, I knew I over packed. I have enough food for two!"

A moment after saying that, He heard something rustling the bushes behind him. He turned around in time to see something pink duck below the bushes, and it move further into the forest. "Hey!" Darin got up and chased after them. He wanted to know why they were spying on him. Leaving his bag in the field, he dashed into the bush. Whoever it was, they were fast, only a little slower than Darin. Darin could hear them huffing and puffing, which abruptly stopped with a thump and a feminine yell that sounded like "Nyuu!"

When he caught up, he found an innocent looking girl sitting on the ground, facing him with a frightened look on her face. The Pink he had seen earlier was her long bright pink hair. Along with that anomaly, she had bright red eyes, and was dressed in pinkish red shirt and skirt. She appeared to be wearing a red apron above that as well. But what Darin noticed first were what looked like cat ears poking through her hair. Darin hadn't expected an encounter with such a innocent looking person. "Uhh... what were you doing spying on me?" He tried to sound manly and strong, but it came out a lot more nervous than manly.

"Nyuu?" The Girl simply said.

"I don't speak... whatever your speaking." Darin replied, scratching the back of his head. He took a couple steps towards her. She slid backwards slightly. She seemed as nervous than him, if not more so. "Oh, uhh..." Darin muttered. He crouched down, trying not to seem like a menacing person towering over her. "How'd you get here? You don't look like your from around here." Darin asked.

"Nyuu? Nyuu?" The Girl repeated the same thing.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" Darin asked, finding it odd all she says is 'Nyuu'.

"Nyuu!" The girl exclaimed happily, not seeming very nervous anymore.

"I guess I'll have to take that for an answer." Darin sighed. "I'm Darin. Are you hurt?"

Nyuu looked at her arms and legs, then caused Darin to raise an eyebrow by looking down her shirt. She shook her head and exclaimed "Nyuu!"

_'I can't leave her alone like this...' _Darin thought. "I can't believe I'm going to ask this." He sighed. "Do you want to come with me?"

At this, Nyuu, looked at him and exclaimed "YES!" Slightly startling him with her volume. She stood up, unintentionally giving Darin an up skirt view. He looked away, trying to respect her. He stood up, finding that she was actually slightly taller than him.

"We'd best be going then... hmm..." Curiosity got the better of Darin and he reached up and touched one the things sticking out of her hair. To his surprise, they felt much harder than he thought. Nyuu reached up and put a hand over his, a slight look of concern on her face, as if she thought he found something wrong. Darin's eyes widened a little, as when Nyuu pushed his hand down, he could feel the base of it. "_It's coming right out of her skull!? Are these horns?_" He thought.

"Nyuu?" Nyuu's inquiry snapped Darin out of it, and he pulled his hand back.

"Err... Nothing. Let's go." Darin turned around and began to backtrack to his pack, Nyuu following close behind.

When they left the forest's edge, the bag was gone, Leaving just the bedroll. "What?! I left it right here!" Darin ran over to the spot he left it, the grass still slightly depressed. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to leave it out in the open! Food in plain sight, no less! I'm just no good as a traveler... no wonder my parents never brought me along on their travels..." Darin held his head in his hands.

Nyuu leaned in front of him, trying to look at his face. "Nyuu?"

"Oh, uh... nothing." Darin lifted his head back up only to see her jogging off to the woods on the other side of the path. "Hey, where are you going!?" Darin called after her.

"Nyuu!" She kept jogging away, not even turning to look back.

"What the hell- oh." Darin said to himself, noticing the muddy tracks in the grass. He ran to catch up with Nyuu.

Nyuu ran into a clearing, Darin catching up only to see her hit in the head by a Bokoblin's club and fall to the ground. _"Damn it!"_ He thought. He kept running to face the Bokoblin, but stopped a few feet away when he realized he'd foolishly left his weapons in his bag. "_I just need to get past him..." _Darin thought. This was not going to be an easy endeavor, as the Bokoblin's attention was fixed on him now. Darin tried stepping to the side, but the Bokoblin seemed as fast as him. _"Why isn't he just charging at me?" _Darin thought. "Ah!" He said as he remembered something his Dad taught him. He dashed to the side and rolled around the Bokoblin, sprinting to the bag to look for his short sword.

Inside the bag, it looked like the stupid Bokoblin unwrapped every sandwich, then poured all the milk in the bag, so Darin was having to dig in a messy slosh of mushy bread and milk. He gripped a wooden handle, just as he felt the great force of the Bokoblin's club against the back of his head. He lost the grip on the handle and fell down, turning his head slightly to see the Bokoblin ready to finish him. He accidentally pulled the bag over and spilled it in his direction, milk pouring onto the grass. "_Now I understand why I was never brought on any adventures... I can't even protect a helpless girl for half an hour." _He thought. Darin looked up at the Bokoblin, feeling confused. "_Why isn't he moving?_" Only the Bokoblin dropped his club did Darin noticed he was choking, but with no visible thing strangling him.

Darin's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened as the same invisible force tore the Bokoblin's head right off his shoulders. The head fell to the ground, then something pulled the bleeding body backwards, making it fall over without crushing Darin. Less than two meters away Nyuu was standing there.

Darin had never seen anything so brutally killed, much less right before his eyes. It felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach, and his heart was pumping abnormally fast. "You... buh..." He got up, trembling somewhat. "How... what..." He stuttered.

"I just saved your life, Human." Nyuu said with a more grim voice.

Darin looked up. "You're talking!" He said with astonishment and confusion.

"What do you mean by-" Nyuu noticed Darin's pale white and black skin, and the red glowing markings on his arms. "You're not human."

"Uh... uhh..." Darin found it hard to think with a decapitated corpse in front of him. "Half."

"What?" Nyuu asked, interested.

"My father is- was human. He wasn't from around here, and my Mom wasn't either. You might say... I'm one of a kind. Whoa." Darin put a hand on his chest to find his heart beating so hard he felt it was going to bust out of his chest. He leaned on a nearby tree.

"A... one of a kind? You... you're just like..." Nyuu was the one surprised now, eyes widened.

A tingling on his right hand made Darin look down to see the Triforce of Power glowing. "You again..." He muttered. When he looked up, he gasped. He could see four six-feet-long translucent arms coming from Nyuu's back. "WHA- what are those?!" He rose a hand and pointed at one of them.

Nyuu's eyes widened even more, the hands retracting back into her. "You can see them!?" She asked, amazed. She noticed The gold Triangle glowing on his hand. "What is that on your hand?" She asked.

Darin felt light-headed. He glanced at his hand, then at Nyuu, then at the decapitated body. He mumbled "I... you... that... Uh... yeah..." before falling to the ground unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Darin opened his eyes to find himself in a completely unfamiliar environment. surrounding him was a large metal room, no furniture whatsoever.

"Where the hell...?" Darin heard a dripping noticed left of him, and looked in that direction, instantly regretting it. A seven foot wide circular cage was bent and broken, despite being made of steel, but that wasn't what unnerved him.

It was covered in blood splatter.

Blood had pooled around it, and Darin almost vomited when he saw a decapitated head and corpse in the middle of it all. the corpse wore blood-stained blue clothing. Darin couldn't recognize that kind of clothing from anywhere he'd been before. Darin got up and looked around at his surroundings. Upwards, he couldn't even see the ceiling. he spotted a huge metal door that was open, light pouring through.

When he reached the door he realized this must be a nightmare. In the wide metal corridor was a huge bloody mess, four bodies spread around. All of them had their heads removed.

Darin's stomach couldn't handle it anymore, and he vomited. He noticed holes in the wall next to him, and little odd-looking pieces of metal in the decapitated bodies' hands. "What could have done this!?" Darin silently pondered in fear. He jumped as a door opened at the end of the hall, revealing a small room with the same metal plating inside, but it had many holes in the wall, with a void at the bottom center.

Out of curiosity, Darin walked into the tiny room. He was examining the holes in the wall and the little pieces of metal on the ground when the doors behind him suddenly shut, the room he was in making a whirring sound. The door opened to reveal another gruesome scene.

Darin continued to make his way through this grim, bloody halls, until finally he saw an open door to the night and could smell fresh air. He exited through and could smell fresh air, although salty. He was standing on what seemed like stone cliffs. Was this the ocean? Darin looked ahead and he thought he could see the silhouette of someone standing on the edge of the cliff, facing away from him.

"Hello?" He called out. "Who's there?"

After he said that, several things happened. First the person turned their head slightly, a loud BANG was heard, and the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard as the person fell off the cliff edge. "Hey!" Darin called and ran out to the edge in time to see something pink splash into the water far below. "Who was that?" Darin asked himself out loud. He turned around only to see a Human girl his age standing in front of him. "Gah!" He jumped, almost falling off the cliff.

She had shoulder-length golden hair and wore a red dress. "Be careful." She said, before reaching out and pushing him over.

"Wha-" He said, stunned, as he fell off the cliff.

--

Darin woke with a gasp, opening his eyes immediately. Hyrule's starry sky greeted him. He could fell someone's small fingers touching his right hand. He looked down to see that he was lying on his bedroll, and Nyuu was the one touching his hand. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that the Triforce of Power was glowing bright. He put his left hand on his chest, muttering "You need to stop doing that." to himself.

Nyuu looked up, the young innocent expression on her face. "Nyuu?" Her face lit up as she saw he was awake. "Nyuu!" She hugged him close.

"You sure get attached quickly." Darin patted her on the back. Suddenly memories of what happened to the Bokoblin and his dream cam rushing back. He sat upright quickly, Nyuu letting go.

"Nyuu?" She inquired.

"What happened to talking?" Darin asked her, confused about what he saw. "Or was that a dream?" He looked around. His bag was missing, although he saw his sword at his feet. "No dream. Or that wasn't part of it, anyway." He said to himself. He looked Nyuu in the eyes. There was no sign of the grim voice her talked to earlier, only innocence could be seen. "You certainly are an interesting individual." He said to her.

"Nyuu!" She exclaimed.

A wave of Fatigue passed over Darin. "Whoa. I just woke up and I'm already exhausted." After saying this he noticed the Triforce of Power fade away. "That would explain it." He looked back at Nyuu, who looked wide-awake and attentive. "Are you not tired at all?"

Nyuu tilted her head to the side "Nyuu?"

Darin face palmed. "You can't even understand me, can you?" He looked up, and Nyuu was now looking up with an open mouth at the stars. "Nope." He slid inside the bedroll. "I need some sleep. Try not to wander off, please." He said. Nyuu's eyes didn't leave the sky. "Great." Darin muttered, before quickly falling to sleep.

--

Darin once again found himself in a unrecognized area, but this time the first thing he did was look down at his hand to see the Triforce of Power glowing bright.

"Oh come on!" He complained to the ceiling. "I just had one of these!" He looked around himself. He appeared to be in a another hallway, but this one had a shiny red laminate floor, white tiled ceiling, and concrete walls painted yellow. Behind him and across the hall were two large windows, looking into small rooms.

"What the hell am I doing here anyway..." He turned around, and he thought he saw the answer. A little girl, no older than ten, was sitting at a large desk meant for several people. She wore a white shirt and a red plaid skirt. More important was the short pink hair and the horns sticking out of her head. "Nyuu?" Darin asked out loud.

Three similar-aged boys ran behind him and into the room, calling out "Hey freak!" The boys surrounded the girl, who didn't move. One of them pulled her chair back and let go, smacking her into the table. No response. "You don't even cry! You really aren't human!" The boy and his friends laughed at her.

Darin wanted to move, get into the room and stop those bullies, but for some reason it felt like his tunic was suddenly made of stone. Darin heard footsteps behind him, which stopped for a moment, presumably looking at the scene.

"Hey!" He heard another little girl call to the boys in the room, followed by seeing her run in the room. "Teacher!" he called out. "Tomoe is bullying someone!" As soon as she finished that sentence, Darin felt his clothing go back to their normal weight.

"Damn it. Let's book it!" The Bully that had been addressed as Tomoe ran for the door, only to open it and see Darin standing there, immediately noticing his skin and arms. "What are you supposed to be?" The boy snarled. Darin stepped inside the room, gaining the attention of Nyuu. He cornered Tomoe against a wall, the other bullies and the other girl running out of the room, most likely for a teacher. "What are you, her friend or something?" Tomoe stubbornly tried to sound like he wasn't terrified.

Darin crouched to look him in the eye. He brought a hand up swiftly, grabbing Tomoe's forehead. He then slammed it into the wall, although it was a lot gentler than it could have been. "Get out of here." Darin leaned in to the little bully's face, which looked like it was about to cry. "It's in your best interests." Darin stood up, roughly pushing the kid towards the door. Tomoe didn't hesitate to run out of the room.

Nyuu looked up at him with a shocked expression. "Who are you?" She asked in a high-pitched voice. Darin crouched down and forced a smile.

"A friend." He hugged her, feeling that she needed it. He must have been right as he could feel her heart beating hard and fast. He felt her lean her head on his shoulder, tears silently falling. "_What had she been through in this place?_" He thought.

"Do you really wish to know?"

Darin turned his head slightly to see the girl in the red dress standing next to them. Nyuu lifted her head. "Huh?"

"Oh, you two. So lost. I'm sure if we had mortal emotions we'd be feeling sympathy right now." The girl said.

Darin got up. "Hey! I know exactly where I am!" After saying this, he looked around, blinked, and added "When I'm awake..."

"Who is this?" Nyuu asked Darin curiously.

"I don't know." Darin said to Nyuu, then turned back to the girl. "I want answers. Who are you? Why are you showing me these things?" Darin demanded.

"You know the best thing about being Goddesses?" She said, Darin's eyes widening. "You don't have to explain yourself to anyone." Before he knew what happened, the room faded away.

--

Darin woke, the night sky still above his head. He shifted to his side before falling back to sleep just after realizing he was laying on the grass.

The next time Darin woke, The sun had risen behind him. He noticed that the bottom of his bedroll had disappeared, but he was still covered by the top. He briefly wondered where it went in his dazed state before feeling something warm press up behind him. He rolled over to come face-to-face with the sleeping Nyuu.

It took him a second to process where he was before he suddenly scrambled out from under the torn bedroll. Nyuu must have cut the edge of the bedroll and slipped it out from under him to use as an extended blanket. He felt worried as he realized how close the blade must have been to his head. He looked down at Nyuu. She talked in the dream, - or was it a vision? - but she didn't talk at all when he was awake. Well, except for that one time...

"She was hit in the head!" Darin finished his thought out loud. Nyuu woke up, blinking and looking at Darin with impossible innocence. _"There's no way I could hit her over the head..." _He thought. "How are you?" He asked.

At this, she sat up and said her usual "Nyuu!" Cheerfully.

"Great." Darin bent down to try to roll up the torn bedroll, stuffing it under his arm when he was done. "Let's get going."

Thus, he began his journey to Hyrule Castle, Nyuu in tow.


	3. Chapter 3

As they walked, Nyuu started humming a tune unknown to Darin. "_I wonder where she heard that._" Darin though to himself, "_Then again, there's a lot I don't know about her._" They walked through the pass Link helped clear twenty-one years ago. It was a lot more convenient than going around to either of the bridges, as it connected directly to the south gate of town.

When they walked into the Town, Darin's expression of astonishment almost matched Nyuu's. They looked up at all the buildings, They could smell merchandise being sold, from flowers to bread. They could hear the bustling sounds of the town, people talking, bells ringing.

This all was interrupted by a shriek that came from the center of town. Darin looked down in time to see a group of people dressed in ragged leather armor running down the street towards them. Before he could act, Darin was pushed down by a purple-skinned elf that led them, knocking over Nyuu, who's head banged violently on the edge of a stall selling hot spring water. Darin got back to his feet only to see the last of them run out of the gates.

"What the hell was that?" He asked aloud. He heard a groan at his feet, making him turn his attention to Nyuu on the ground. "Nyuu! Are you alright?" He crouched down.

Nyuu looked at him, innocence absent from her eyes. "Oh." Darin said.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked.

"When you're not talking all you say in 'Nyuu'" Darin said.

"When I'm not talking?" Nyuu asked, confused.

"Hey you!" Darin's conversation was interrupted by a pair of guards wielding spears. "Did you see a gang of assassins run by here?" The guards interrogated.

"Assassins?" Darin asked curiously.

"Bunch of guys in leather. Did you see them?" The guard continued.

"Yeah, they knocked us over! They ran out the south gate!" Darin told him.

"Oh, out of the city? Problem solved!" The Guards congratulated eachother.

"Problem- what? They're still roaming around! Aren't you supposed to protect your land?" Darin said to the lazy guards.

"As far we're concerned, the city is the extent of our land. What happens in the fields aren't our problem." The guards stepped towards him. "Are you saying we're incompetent, boy?" He shoved Darin back.

Darin was about to reply when when saw a translucent hand by him, heading for the guard's neck. He turned around swiftly and called out "Don't!" to Nyuu. She retracted the arm away, a subtle look of regret on her face. This all looked very odd to the bystanders, who couldn't see the hands.

"Whatever, kid." The guards walked away, presumably to a pub to celebrate their 'victory'.

Darin walked towards Nyuu, saying "What was that about? Don't tell me you were going to-"

"I felt it was necessary for your protection." Nyuu interrupted.

"My _protection_?! I'm sorry, but I don't need you to protect me." Darin said, "What's your name, anyway?"

Nyuu thought for a moment, then a look of shocked worry appeared on her face. "My name..." She said quietly.

"That wasn't really meant to be a stumper." Darin said, starting to look concerned.

"I can't... I don't know my name... I don't know why... but I think I can remember people calling me Lucy... but I'm sure that's not it..." She said, head in her hands.

"Well then, Lucy." Darin said, "Shall we go find out what just happened?"

They walked into Town Square, navigating their way through a thick crowd. At the center were two very royally dressed people, most likely Zelda and the King. They stood over a dead body, similarly dressed, but with a knife in his back. Darin tried to approach them, but was pushed back by another Guard. "This is a crime scene. Don't try to interfere." He grunted.

"I could remove him very easily." Lucy whispered.

"Don't." Darin whispered back.

Darin looked past the Guard, catching glimpses of the scene. Queen Zelda had a hand covering her mouth, her eyes fighting back tears. The Royally dressed man, presumably her Husband and the King, tried to comfort her. The person on the ground must have had some kind of connection with them. Zelda said something to him, then he said something to two guards who subsequently led her out of the scene, through the crowd.

Darin tapped Lucy on the shoulder, saying "Hey, I have an idea. Follow me." They circled around the crowd and found Zelda sitting at one of the Cafe tables accompanied by two armored guards.

Darin and Lucy approached them, earning suspicious looks from the Guards. "Err... Queen Zelda?" Darin tried to get her attention.

"Go away. I'm not talking to the Public right now." Zelda didn't even look up.

"I think you knew my parents." Darin said. Zelda looked up, a expression of shock appearing on her face as she looked at him.

"You must be Darin! Yes, I've heard about you! But that was-" Zelda was interrupted.

"Six years ago?" Darin finished her sentence.

"Yeah.. how did you know?" Zelda was surprised at his knowledge.

"My parent's disappeared six years ago. I'm looking for them." Darin said, looking down at the ground.

"What? I thought they just never came back to the castle because it had finally become peaceful around here." Zelda contemplated.

"What happened back there?" Darin said, trying to change the subject.

At this, Zelda looked depressed. "He was my adviser. Someone killed him! In broad daylight!" Zelda exclaimed. She looked past Darin. "Who's your friend?" She asked.

"She's... we don't know her name. She has some memory problems." Darin said.

"Oh! Well, I can't help with finding your parents, but I think I can help you there." Zelda said, her mood brightening.

--

Zelda led Darin and Lucy up the long spiraling staircase, stopping only a single floor short of the top. "The Library we have should something about Memory-restoring magic." Zelda explained.

"Magic? Just where am I..." Lucy muttered.

"It may be something else but I think she might also have Split-personalities." Darin suggested.

"You sure know a lot for someone who grew up in a small village." Zelda complimented.

"My Father told some interesting bed-time stories." Darin said.

Zelda struggled to open the locked door. "Damn it, I know this is the right key!" She took it out, giving up. "I'm sorry. I guess I have to... what..." She stopped mid-sentence as she was able to see as well as Darin the translucent hand come from behind Lucy and towards the lock, a click being heard and the door gently opening ajar. Zelda looked on, amazed at the hand returned to Lucy's back. "You are certainly an interesting person." Zelda said. Darin looked back at Lucy, who shrugged.

They entered the room to be greeted by the girl in the red dress, sitting on the center reading table. "I really thought you'd be quicker getting in here."


	4. Chapter 4

"You!" Darin exclaimed out of reflex.

"You know this person?" Zelda asked.

"Kind of." Darin replied, approaching the girl in the red dress. "Who are you? What do you want with me and Lucy?! I want some damn answers!" He demanded.

"You would think you'd show more respect to you Deities." The girl said calmly.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Darin asked frantically.

"Er... Darin..." Zelda tried to interrupt as she caught on.

"Perhaps Nayru should have given you more wisdom." The girl got off the table. "We are the ones you know as the Goddesses of Hyrule. We use this body to communicate on the mortal plane, our Avatar."

Darin stepped back. "Oh... uh... sorry?"

"We forgive you. Well, Din would personally like to smite you a little, but we can't have that." The Avatar looked Darin in the eyes. "You want to find your parents." She stated.

"Can you tell me where they are?" Darin asked with a hopeful expression on his face.

"They'll be around in a day or so." Th Avatar said, smiling.

"What, really?" Darin asked.

"Now, about you." The Avatar ignored Darin's further questions. She walked over to Lucy, who was completely lost on what was happening. "You were not brought here by our will, but we've decided to take a special interest in your case." The Avatar case to face-to-face with Lucy, who had a slight expression of contempt on her face mixed with confusion. The Avatar held a finger in front on Lucy's forehead.

"What are you-"

"Consider this a gift for... enduring." A small golden bolt connected with Lucy, who instantly fell to the ground unconscious.

"What did you do!?" Darin ran over to Lucy.

"I just solved her little personality problem." The Avatar explained. "The memories and feelings of each personality should be one now, however limited those memories may be. You may want to get on fixing those. Meanwhile, we have an elsewhere to be." She walked out of the library, closing the door behind her.

"I can't believe it! Direct contact with the Gods! This is amazing!" Zelda was ecstatic until she saw Lucy. "Is she alright?" She said in a worried tone, walking over to them.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Darin said, shaking Lucy. "Lucy! Hey, Lucy! Nyuu! Whatever your name is!"

Lucy's face twitched, followed by her eyes opening. "Oh, good." Darin sighed, relieved. Lucy sat up. "How are you?" He asked.

"Nyuu! Er..." Lucy blushed, embarrassed. "Yeah. Yes. I'm fine... I think." She held her face in her hands. "I remember... I can remember being the one who could only say 'nyuu'. I remember feeling..." She looked at Darin, then looked away again, blushing.

"Getting attached quickly?" Darin asked.

"Yeah... let's go with that." Lucy replied.

"I'll get some of my assistants to help me in looking for anything that can help you." Zelda said, "Meanwhile, why don't you two go into town and maybe see what it has to offer? Everything's on me."

Darin helped Lucy to her feet. "Shouldn't we be helping you look for the spell?" Darin asked, surprised at Zelda's generosity.

"What do you know about magic?" Zelda asked.

"Err... little to none..." Darin admitted, scratching his head.

"I'll be alright with just some people who know thier way around the library. I need something to get my mind of the murder. Go out and try to have fun. You can't always be worrying." Zelda said.

"Thank you, Zelda." Darin gratefully said.

Lucy stepped forward. "I... I have to say I'm also grateful for your kindness. I hope to be able to repay it eventually." She said, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't worry about it." Zelda said.

Darin and Lucy head for the door, only for Darin to try to open it and find it locked again. "Damn it. Lucy, do you think you could-" He was cut off by the sound of the lock clicking and the door opening. He turned to see Lucy smiling at him. "Thanks."

--

Meanwhile, for the first time in a long time a rip in the dimension was made in Faron's woods, emerging from it was Spencer, in his torn black long sleeve shirt and jeans, Link in his trademark green tunic, Midna... well, naked as an imp, and Andima in worn ordinary denim from Spencer's hometown. Shortly they met Ilia in Ordon.

"Darin left to find you two days ago!" Ilia told them.

"Whoa, this is heavy." Spencer said.

"What's that?" Andima asked.

"Err... nothing. I'm amazed I'm still able to remember movies from back when I lived on Earth." Spencer realized.

"What are movies?" Midna asked.

"Oh... never mind." Spencer turned to Ilia. "Where did you say he went?"

Ilia bit her lip. "He didn't say. He did follow the path that leads into The Fields, though."

"We should get going before he gets into trouble." Link suggested.

"I need to change out of these first." Andima said, referring to her jacket and jeans. "It feels so unnatural."

"Who cares about that brat anyway." Spencer snarled, instantly putting a hand to his mouth as everyone stared at him with shocked looks. "That was _not_ me." He said. "Loomis is having a big laugh right about now."

"That's another thing we need to do, Banishing that old fart, anyway." Midna remarked.

"No we don't you stupid biMMMM!" Spencer covered his mouth in mid-sentence.

"Is there _any_ way I could cause that old man to feel pain?" Midna asked, curious.

"No of course-Yes!" Spencer couldn't control what he said, followed by being hit by a Hair-hand. "I said no!" He said, lying on the floor.

"How do I know who's talking?" Midna asked.

"Stop it already!" Link held her back.

--

Darin (carrying a bag with rupees from Zelda) and Lucy walked through the streets of Castle town, receiving odd looks from the townsfolk. "Why do they look at us like that? We're not more different from them, with their pointed ears..." Lucy remarked.

"Pointed ears are actually the norm around here. We don't get much people with horns or glowing glyphs on their arms." Darin explained. A thought came to him. "Hey, you remember coming from somewhere were rounded ears are common! That's a good sign!"

"I guess it is..." Lucy wasn't entirely sure. Did that mean she wasn't normal even where she came from?

"Hey, here's the Malo-mart!" Darin hopped up the steps to the door. "My Father's friend knew the owner of this store when he was only three!"

Inside, the store had much more than the usual stock of bombs, arrows, and other adventuring gear. Fancy Tunics, some designed to look like the Hero of Hyrule's, other that were just several odd designs ranging from one with flames to ones with fish printed all over them. There were all sorts of merchandise relating to the Hero. Imitation hats, Master Sword replicas, Gloves with the Triforce printed on the back, you name it.

"I guess this is the kind of attention you get if you go and save the world." Darin said, looking at everything. He noticed a singular music box sitting the counter next to the shopkeeper. It was made of dark wood, coated in gloss and a intricate gold trim on the edges. Darin approached the shopkeeper. "How much is that music box?" He asked.

"Sorry, it's not for sale. I'm not too sure what to do with it, really. A girl around your age walked in here and told me to hold it for someone with horns and pink hair! It must have been a jo- oh." The shopkeeper looked up and saw Lucy in mid-sentence. "Um... sorry, Miss. I guess it was meant for you."

Lucy stepped forward and the shopkeeper handed it to her. She opened it, and it played it's tune. "Hey, you were humming this earlier!" Darin commented.

"I was?" Lucy asked. She closed the box, looking back to the shopkeeper. "Who left this?"

"Oh, you just missed her. She was kind of odd, kept saying 'we' instead of 'I'. I thought she was just pretentious." He leaned on the counter. "Not to sound rude, but are you going to be buying anything?"

Darin thought for a moment, looking at Lucy's head, then grinning.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, kind of creeped out.

Darin turned to the shopkeeper. "I'll take one of those Hero imitation hats." The shopkeeper took one off the wall, placing it on the counter.

"That'll be fifty rupees." He said. Darin pulled up the bag with the royal crest on it, taking out a purple rupee.

"Thank you." The shopkeeper took the rupee. Darin took the hat and he and Lucy walked back outside.

Outside, Lucy asked "Why did you but tha- nyuu!" She was interrupted by Darin shoving it on her head.

"There. Now people shouldn't give you too many strange looks." Darin said.

"Thanks." Lucy said, reaching up and touching the hat. "I can't help but think this has happened before.

Darin chuckled. "I wish it were that easy to cover these glyphs." He said, looking at his arms. "They just show right through whatever I wear." He looked back up at Lucy. "Come on. There's still lots in this town to see."

The day passed quickly, and before they knew it, the sun was setting in the west. Darin has purchased a new bag, which was carrying a loaf of bread, two bottles for collecting water, and his old bedroll. He also had a new Longsword in a sheath on his back. They traveled to the Inn, where Darin approached the counter.

"Two-bed room, please." Darin requested.

"Sorry. Only vacancy is a single room with a double-bed." The inn-keeper grunted, cleaning out a mug.

"Uh... I guess that will have to do." Darin exchanged a red rupee for the room key.

Upstairs, the room was exactly what was advertised. No less, but no more either. It was a small room, with a single bed meant for two people, accompanied only by a small table.

"Only one bed?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, it's all they had. The rest of the place is full." Darin walked over to the table and set the backpack and his new sword on it. He pulled his old bedroll out and laid it on the floor.

"You're sleeping on the floor?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, I thought I should let you have the bed." Darin said, folding the torn bedroll.

"I guess that's what should be done..." Lucy got into bed, only taking off the apron and hat.

--

Lucy found herself in a black void. "W-what is this? Some kind of dream?" She looked around, nothing was there, just blackness.

"No." Lucy jumped, spinning around to see a little girl in front of her. The girl looked like her, but only ten years old and with a slightly maniacal look on her face. "Long time no see."

"Who- what are you?" Lucy asked, feeling an inexplicable fear.

"You really don't remember? You go prancing off with Mr. Unique and forget all about little ol' _me_." Lucy felt something tug on her feet, making her fall backwards. She sat up, only to come face-to-face with the creepy little girl. "He'll break your heart, just like everyone else."

"W-who are you?" Lucy asked again.

The Girl leaned in. "Instinct!"

--

"Aaagghh!" Lucy woke up in a cold sweat, yelling and sitting bolt-upright in the middle of the night.

"Lucy?" Darin groaned, half-asleep.

"I- Uh..." Lucy was breathing hard. "Nothing. Nightmare. Go back to sleep." She laid back down, still shaking.

--

They were woken up a mere few hours later by someone banging on the door.

"Ugh... coming!" Darin sat up and stumbled towards the door. He opened it to find a young man standing there in royal clothing

"Her Highness sent me here to tell you she has finished researching the spell!" He announced.

"Ugh..." Darin groaned. "Tell her Highness that we'll be there soon."

Walking up the spiral stairs that connected all the floors of the castle, Darin asked Lucy a question. "What was all that yelling about last night?"

"I think I had a nightmare. That's all." Lucy said. They reached the door to the library, which look like someone had violently removed the lock, leaving a hole on the door. They walked in to find Zelda sitting at the center table, surround by books, and looking rather proud of herself.

"I found it! Overnight!" She touted.

"You didn't sleep?" Darin asked, wondering just how healthy their Queen is.

"A little. Ah, but that's not what you're here for!" She picked up a piece of parchment and walked over to them. "Lucy, you still want your memories! Of course you do! Darin, stand back. There might be a little physical pulse."

"You sure are eager." Darin said, following her orders and taking a step back.

"I was able to find a difficult spell in just one night! I can't wait to see if this works!" Zelda said, glowing.

"What could be any side-effects?" Darin asked, worried.

"Nothing serious. I might just get a peek into her life, that's all." She placed a hand on Lucy's head, reading a language unknown to Darin off the piece of parchment.

'Little physical pulse' was an understatement. As soon as Zelda had finished speaking, something blew them across the room, Zelda crashing against the table, Lucy against the wall. Darin ran over to Lucy. "Lucy! Wake up!" He shook her.

Zelda groaned, getting up. "Darin! Get away from her!" She yelled.

"So many people..." Lucy muttered.

"What? What happened!?" Darin asked them both.

Lucy looked up at Darin with apologetic eyes. "Darin..." She suddenly got up and ran out the door, holding her head.

Darin looked up at Zelda. "What happened?"

"She's evil... Lucy's killed hundreds of people!" Zelda said, terrified.


	5. Chapter 5

"That's not true." Darin said, shocked.

"It's true. I _saw_ it. She's killed innocent people. Families." Zelda gasped.

Darin stood up, back towards the door. "No way. Not the Lucy I know." He suddenly remembered the decapitation of the Bokoblin and the near-killing of the rude guard. "I have to go find her." He ran out the door.

"Darin!" Zelda called out to him in vain. "Damn it... what have I done?"

--

Lucy sat in the back of Telma's Pub, holding her head in her hands, muttering to herself. "Why... why am I able to remember all these things... horrible things..." She laid her head on the table, closing her eyes.

"Because you _like_ killing."

Lucy snapped her eyes open, finding herself sitting in the black void again. The child sat in front of her. "You remember me now, don't you?" It said.

"You. You kept telling me to do those things." Lucy stood up. "I'm not listening to you anymore!"

"You were all for killing everyone back then. What happened? Did you go soft on me?" The child stood up.

"I'm not evil. You're the one that's evil." Lucy said.

"Who said anything about being evil?" The child shrugged. "You were _born_ to take out mankind. I'm merely helping you along the way."

"Get out of my head!" Lucy screamed.

"Now, now, how rude. That's like telling me to get out of my own house." The child said with fake sadness. "The Queen hates you now. Soon she'll make everyone hate you. No one out there likes you!"

--

"SHUT UP!" Lucy yelled.

"Something wrong, dear?" Telma spoke to Lucy.

Lucy opened her eyes. She found herself back in the pub. "Go away. I don't know what I might do anymore." Lucy groaned.

"If you say so, Honey." Telma went back to serving her customers. Lucy closed her eyes, hearing the Pub door open and slam shut.

"Lucy!"

Lucy opened her eyes and raised her head to see Darin running towards her. "I'm so glad I found you!" He hugged her.

"Darin..." Lucy gasped. _'You're wrong. Not everyone hates me._' She thought.

"What was that back there?" Darin asked her.

"Darin..." Lucy wanted to tell him, but she couldn't find the words.

"Hey! We're searching for someone! Her Highness' orders!" They heard someone pounding at the door. Telma answered it. A bunch of Guards were standing just outside. "Have you see a girl with Long hair and horns come in here?" The short in the front asked.

"Hey, chief, isn't that her there?" One of the taller guards pointed over his head at Lucy.

Darin sprinted over and tried to slam the door closed, stopped by a Guard sticking his foot in the door. "No one you need is here!"

"Hey! Let us in!" The Guards began pushing the door.

"What are you doing?!" Telma exclaimed, trying to pull Darin away in her old age.

"Lucy! I need an extra set of hands here, if you know what I mean!" Darin called back to her.

Lucy looked scared. "No. I can't!" She protested.

"Lucy!" Darin called out, the Guards almost pushing the door open.

"I can't use those killing tools..." Lucy held her head in pain, hearing voices.

"It's your nature to kill."

"It's why you were born."

"Lucy!" Darin yelled, finally being pulled away from the door. However, as soon as it opened, it slammed shut again, crushing the poor soldiers foot. Darin looked up and saw a single translucent hand holding the door shut. He looked behind him, seeing Lucy, who had gotten close enough. He got up, saying "Stay back, please." To Telma. "We need to get out of here." He said to Lucy.

"How do we do that?" She asked. The voices in her head told her a way, but she didn't want to do that.

"In a moment, you'll have to break down the door, and we'll run for the south gate, knocking over anyone in our way." He unsheathed his sword. "Don't kill anyone."

"Of course." Lucy said, not wishing to bring harm to any innocents. She brought out the other three of her four two-meter-long arms, slamming into the door and breaking it right off it's hinges.

"Let's go!" Darin called out. He and Lucy ran out the door, Lucy making sure all the Guards were unconscious with her extra hands. They ran out of the alley only to find Zelda and three-score soldiers waiting for them.

"Darin, you can still walk away from this. You don't want to be an accomplice to the murder of hundreds, do you?" Zelda reasoned.

"She didn't do what you're saying. Let us explain!" He pleaded.

"There is nothing to explain! I saw them like they were my own memories!" Zelda yelled at him.

"I'm sorry." Lucy stepped forward.

An eager bowman called out. "I got her!" He let a arrow loose from his bow, which stopped dead in mid air, caught by one of Lucy's hands. "What the- AGGH!" He was picked up and used to sweep soldiers away, falling like bowling pins. Lucy and Darin ran for the south gate, successfully escaping town.

"Wait." Lucy said, stopping just outside the gates.

"Huh?" Darin stopped and turned to look at what she was doing. Her hands reached out to the Gate doors, pushing them shut. The Guards were starting to get up.

"What in the world!?" They saw Lucy standing there, and to their eyes the gates were closing by themselves. They ran for the doors, only to be smacked in the face by the doors closing with a loud "THOOM", the sound reverberating through the ground.

She turned back, forcing a smile. "That will probably hold them for a while." Her expression suddenly turned miserable, holding her face in her hands.

"Lucy!" Darin ran over to her, embracing her.

"How am I supposed to go on?!" Lucy sobbed in his arms. "I can't live... knowing what I've done!"

"You didn't do those things. If you did, you wouldn't feel like this right now!" He reassured her.

"Then why do I remember doing them!? Why do I have this voice in my head telling me to kill everyone I see?!" Lucy cried.

"I don't know." Darin pulled away to look her in the eyes. "But I promise you I will help you through this." The gates began to very slowly creak open. "But now, we have to run." He grabbed her hand and ran down the stone steps.

"What about your parents?" Lucy asked, being pulled along.

"They've been gone for six years." They entered the pass, Darin looking back at Lucy. "They can wait a little longer while we clear your name." As he finished saying this, he accidentally collided with someone else, knocking each other over.

Darin rubbed his head, looking up at who he knocked over. His eyes widened, blinking. He had just literally ran into his Father. Link, Andima, and Midna close behind.

"Or not."


	6. Chapter 6

The previous night, the purple-skinned elf walked through Faron's woods. He reminisced to himself what happened to him two years ago.

--

Sucked through one of the last of Loomis' inter-dimensional tunnels, Ladoran had crashed into Hyrule's western fields. The amour he was wearing shattered on impact, along with the katana through his gut. Remarkably, he only gained a few bruises. Ladoran lay there, sure that he would be dead by now. He raised his arm, which worked without any injury, even if snapped chain links kept falling off his broken armor.

"W-what..." He stuttered. He managed to get up, more pieces of armor falling off. He spotted his katana's hilt, accompanied by what was left of the blade. "Oh no..." He picked it up, looking at it mournfully.

"I can fix that."

Ladoran turned around to see an old man dressed in upper-class clothing and wearing glasses. "I'm not in the mood for mysterious old men." Ladoran groaned.

"What you did four years ago was quite the accomplishment." The man said.

"Four years- What are you talking about?" Ladoran just about had enough of confusing old men.

"Ah, yes. I forgot, it must have been just moments ago for you." The man approached him. "A group I'm associated with would be very interested in your... services."

"Well, I'm not interested in any shady organizations." Ladoran turned to walk away.

"Oh, I apologize. I had not realized that you knew where you were." The man said with a hint of sarcasm, stopping Ladoran in his tracks.

Ladoran looked around. The sun was setting in what was presumably the west, a castle in the east and mountains shooting up in the north. He turned back to face the man, "Fine. I'll go with you. But you need to answer some questions."

"I'm an open book." The man held his arms open.

The man began leading Ladoran south, towards a vast forest. "What do you know about me?" Ladoran asked him.

"I know about you than you do." The man replied absent-mindedly.

"That's not an answer." Ladoran growled.

"Sure it is."

Ladoran thought for a moment. "Fine. How about telling me why I'm still alive after being impaled and crashing into the ground."

"The old man that stole your body was planning to use it permanently, and was in the middle of making it invincible. He was almost done, too." The Man replied.

"How do you know all this?" Ladoran asked, bewildered that this man knew that his body had been stolen.

"We have sources." The Man simply said.

"Who's 'we'?" Ladoran asked.

"The Eye."

Ladoran thought hard. "Who are you?"

"Just call me Giles." The man said.

Shorty they arrived at a small hut in the woods, an eye was painted on the front door. Giles opened the door for him, and Ladoran walked in. Inside, a fire crackled in a fireplace, a table in the corner accompanied by four chairs. One half of the room was empty, with the exception of two bedrolls stacked in the corner.

Two men sat at the table, dressed in ragged brown leather. One was human, with shaggy black hair and an unshaven face. The other was a Zora, with very pale blue-green skin. "This is Wesley and Yadis, you two, this is Ladoran." Giles introduced them, closing the door behind him.

"Howdy!" The human addressed as Wesley stood up. "It's good to meet you!" He held a hand out.

"Er... Alright." Ladoran shook his hand briefly. He looked at Yadis, who just looked at him.

"Hello." Yadis plainly said.

"Ah, don't mind him." Giles walked past Ladoran and sat down. "He doesn't speak much."

"Who are you people?" Ladoran asked.

Giles opened his mouth as if to speak, but was beaten to it by Yadis. "The Eye."

Giles continued. "We are an... organization dedicated to eradicating corrupted individuals."

"So what, you're a group that kills the bad guys? I think I can find less shady variations of your kind of group." Ladoran said.

"Not quite." Wesley said, "We kill those who are corrupt. This means they were not always bad." He looked down at the ground. "Sometimes our targets have a good reputation with the ignorant public, and so we are looked upon as criminals, assassins."

"You killed one of the most powerful corrupt being there has ever been." Giles said.

"I didn't kill him. I just got my body back. I don't even know what happened." Ladoran looked around. "But Apparently the others were able to finish it, judging how we're not dead."

"Ah yes, your friends did indeed finish him off... kind of." Giles said.

"What do you mean, kind of?" Ladoran asked, raising his head.

"Well, Loomis' consciousness is now in Mr. Landus' head." Giles got up and walked in front of Ladoran. "But that's not the point. We're offering you a place in our organization."

"I don't want to become some lackey of a group considered criminals." Ladoran said.

"You misunderstand. We don't want you to join us." Giles looked over his glasses. "We want you to _lead_ us."

--

Ladoran began thinking about other things. Who exactly was that he pushed down back in town? Ladoran had been filled in on some Hylian history, as he found an odd interest in it, and Giles was more than happy to help him. Judging by his skin, the Boy was a Twili, but Ladoran thought they were all sealed up in a different realm now. The Boy's Hair and eyes made him think of Spencer, who along with Link, Midna, and Andima, he hadn't seen for two years.

Ladoran reached the shack in the woods, opening the door and walking in to find Wesley and Yadis. "Any word on Giles?" Ladoran asked.

"No." Yadis replied in his usual flat expression, reading a book.

"I still don't know why he would disappear into thin air." Wesley pondered. "It's been an entire week now, do you think something happened to him?"

"I don't know." Ladoran looked up at his crew. "Good work, guys. The Queen's Advisor could have been incredibly dangerous had he gone unnoticed. Let's get lots of rest tonight, we've earned it." He walked over to the bedrolls and spread his out.

"It's a damn shame we can't go into an Inn and buy a round of drinks, celebrating properly." Wesley complained.

"That's one of the disadvantages in this line of work." Ladoran remarked.

--

Ladoran was shaken awake around noon the next day. "Ugh... what is it?" He groaned.

"We can finally redeem our public image!" Wesley excitedly said.

At this, Ladoran's eyes snapped open, sitting up. "What?"

"That guy you got in Ordon... Alex I think you called him, says there is a serial killer on the loose, wanted by the Queen herself!" Wesley frantically explained.

"But that's not what we do." Ladoran said.

"Huh?" Wesley's expression of excitement faded.

"We don't go killing every-day criminals. Only those who've gone corrupt." Ladoran explained.

"This isn't any criminal! According to these posters, she's killed hundreds!" Wesley messed with six papers on the table.

"When did all this happen?" Ladoran asked, still half-asleep.

"When you were sleeping! I went to visit Alex in Ordon, and he had these posters, you may want to look at these..." Wesley said.

Ladoran walked over to the table, eyes widening as he looked upon the posters. "What the hell..."

Each poster was a wanted poster, four of them depicting each member of the Quadro, one other showing the boy he had pushed down, and most important of all, the alleged serial killer who had odd-looking horns growing out of her head, accompanied by long pink hair.

"I've seen her!" Ladoran said, pointing at the poster of Lucy. "She was in Castle Town as we were leaving!" He looked back at the wanted posters of the Quadro. "But these can't be right..."

"Whether they're right or not, these must be some pretty important people! Zelda doesn't often send her soldiers out in search of criminals!" Wesley said.

"I don't know about this Wesley... I know these people. They wouldn't associate themselves with a mass murderer." Ladoran said. "What's the last you heard of these people?"

"They're heading east." Yadis said, eyes not leaving his book.

"Six people have been spotted going east. We suspect these are the wanted people here." Wesley explained.

"Do you think the six spotted east are heading for that new port?" Ladoran asked.

"That is a possibility." Yadis said.

Ladoran headed for the door. "I'm going to try to find them. You guys, try to stay put and wait for me here."

"Hey, why the sudden interest?" Wesley asked.

"This is personal." Ladoran said, walking out of the shack and slamming the door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

"Dad?" Darin asked, wide-eyed.

He had just literally bumped into his father, who was closely followed by Andima, Midna, and Link.

"Darin!" Andima ran and embraced her son as he got up.

"Mom?" What? When?" Darin had too many questions.

While all this was happening, Lucy was having an internal argument with the being that claimed to be her Instinct.

--

"What wrong? Don't you see him?" It said.

"Shut up. He's Darin's father!" Lucy screamed inside her head.

"But he's ihuman/i. You know what you need to do." The thing approached with its child-like body. Despite being twice its size, Lucy still felt she wasn't in control here.

"I don't need to do anything!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Oh, fine. I'll do it for you."

--

"I'm so glad we were able to find you this easily!" Andima hugged her son, "Now we just need to-"

"STOP!" Lucy screamed out loud.

With such speed that no one could have seen, two of Lucy's extra hands had reached out and stopped inches short of Spencer's head. Link, Andima, Darin, and Spencer himself saw this now.

"What the bloody hell?!" Spencer scrambled back and got up.

"Holy shit!" Link drew his sword in a short-lived panic.

"What in the world?" Andima turned back to see them.

"Lucy!" Darin turned back to see her on her knees, her head gripped in her hands.

"What? What happened? What's going on?" Midna asked, confused as she was the only one there not able to see the hands. She noticed everyone's pieces of Triforce glowing "Oh, not fair."

The extra hands retreated behind Lucy. "I-I'm sorry. I really am..." She stuttered.

"I think it's time for you to introduce your friend." Spencer said, still catching his breath.

"This is-" Darin was cut off.

"Kaede." Lucy said.

Darin look at her, slightly surprised for some reason. "You remembered your name." He said.

"Yeah." Kaede said, thinking 'iThat still doesn't make up for all those horrible memories.../i'

"I guess we'll have to hear your story later." Andima said, not knowing whether or not to feel threatened. "We should go."

"You're just going to let this person come with us?" Midna asked.

"We're going to give her a chance to explain herself." Spencer said. They all turned to walk south.

"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM."

Kaede and Darin turned only to see Zelda, with an army at her back, shoot a Arrow of Light of them. In the split second that followed, Kaede reached out with all her extra hands only to find out that she couldn't touch the arrow, and it punctured the side of her hat, making her yelp and fall back, unconscious. Darin caught her, terrified at the frozen expression of shock on her face.

"What did you do!?" He yelled at Zelda. "Kaede!" He shook her, blood began staining the area it was hit."Wake up! Come on! You can't just remember your name then leave!"

"Darin. You can still come out of this without any criminal charges. Just-" Zelda was interrupted.

Darin set her on the grass, then ran at Zelda. "What the hell did she ever do to you?!" He grabbed the stunned Zelda on the shoulders, violently shaking her, tears streaming. "What kind of a monarch kills without any warning!?" He threw her to the ground, crouching to hit her against the ground. Zelda hadn't expected to be confronted by such feeling.

"Get off our Queen!" Darin was hit in the side of the head by the blunt of a guards sword, falling on his back. "No one hit's our Queen!" The Guard drove the sword downwards.

Darin held a hand out of instinct. The sword, handle and all, disintegrated into black squares. The moment that followed was silent, with the exception of Midna's whisper to Andima.

"Did you do that?" She asked.

"No." Andima replied, storming towards the stupefied guards. "GET OFF MY SON!" She rose both hands, sending out ten bolts of electricity at once. The guards that weren't hit directly were knocked over by those who were. Andima reached a hand out to Darin. "Get up!"

"Th-thanks" Darin took her helping hand to get up. They heard a groan, and Darin turned to see Kaede sitting up and rubbing her head.

"The voice... it's gone.." She muttered.

"Kaede!" Darin ran over and hugged her.

"Darin..?" She said, still somewhat dazed.

"I'm so glad... how..." Darin pulled her hat off, revealing a shattered left horn, blood had trickled out. Kaede lifted a hand to feel it, but pulled her hand away as soon as it touched, breathing in sharply.

"That must be it..." She muttered.

"Oh thank the gods!" Darin said in relief. He handed her hat back, but she put it on the wrong way and her not-shattered right horn poked through the tear. She noticed a slight look of amusement of Darin's face.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Uh... nothing." He chose not to tell her how comical she looked.

"Why..."

They turned to see Zelda get up, holding a sore shoulder. Darin helped Kaede to her feet. "Why do you side with this criminal?" Zelda asked.

"How do you know she's a criminal?" Andima asked, angry.

"I've seen some of her memories. She's killed hundreds of innocent men... women... even children..." Zelda said, sounding defeated.

"She wouldn't do things like that! I know her!" Darin protested, standing close to Kaede.

"It's all true." Kaede said. Everyone looked at her, shocked. "But if I could, I would go back and stop myself! You need to let me explain what happened!" She looked down, tears streaming down her face again. "I'm sorry..."

"She's a mass-murderer and needs to be eliminated before she does any more harm!" Zelda went on.

"So you didn't even listen to what she had to say?" Link stepped forward.

"Link?!" Zelda hadn't noticed him. "Please... please don't tell me you'll side with this person..."

"You try to kill someone before they have a chance to explain their side?" Link asked her in disbelief. "What happened to you, Zelda?" He turned back to Kaede. "We'll let you tell your side of everything. Let's go."

Darin, Kaede, and the Quadro walked south, leaving a devastated Zelda with a score of unconscious guards.

--

After entering the southern Fields, they walked south-east until they came to the another pass, which they followed to another field cut in half by a canyon. They walked across a wooden bridge Link and Midna had restored twenty-one years ago, stopping as they sun began to set.

"I think here would be a good place set camp." Link, said.

Darin rolled out bedrolls, Andima and Midna materializing them out of black squares. They sat without a camp fire.

"So." Link said, "Now would be a good time."

Kaede closed her eyes. "I was found abandoned in the woods..." She explained, "Or at least that what the people at the first institution I can remember told me. I grew up in orphanages and institutions until I was about ten years old... I wasn't counting." She pulled off her hat. "These horns have caused me trouble since before I can remember. In my childhood I was outcast and picked on because of them. When I was about ten, that when they really started becoming a problem, although I thought they were helping. I had made friends with a puppy, but then made the mistake of telling another girl at the institution about him. She told the bullies, who bludgeoned the poor creature in front of me." She put her hat back on. "That's when I discovered my vectors."

"Vectors?" Spencer asked.

"My extra hands." Kaede demonstrated by using one to lift Darin's pack into the air.

"I still think it's unfair that I'm the only one who can't see them." Midna grumbled.

"Where I'm from, I was the only one who could see them." Kaede continued, "They vibrate at such a frequency that they cut right through flesh. I used them to kill the bullies that tortured the puppy, then left the institution for good. After that, a voice kept talking to me in my head. It told me I was born to destroy mankind... to remake the world. The worst part is, I listened to it. For four years I wandered around, killing innocents and criminals alike. Then I was captured and kept in a facility where they learned about my abilities for four years."

"That's horrible." Andima commented, a picture of sympathy on her face.

"After four years of testing, one of the guards dropped a pen in my range. I tore his arm off when he reached to get it. After that, I continued my violent escape." Kaede continued. "I somehow developed a split personality... one that was incapable of anger and was what might have been considered pure innocence. I was found by two cousins... they named my 'Nyuu' as that was all I was capable of saying. I was living with them for a while, and then suddenly I was pulled into the air and..." She rubbed her head. "I don't remember much from then. I seem to recall a red tunnel of sorts, and a purple blur. Then I ended up in a forest. That's when..." She looked at Darin with teary eyes. "You found me. I'll always be grateful for the kindness you showed me."

"Zelda must not have seen everything." Link said, "She wouldn't try to kill you on sight unless she thought you were truly evil."

"Wait a second. What about that voice? Is it still urging you to kill me?" Spencer asked, concerned for his own safety.

"No... Ever since one of my horns were broken, I haven't heard it... it's the first time in eight years that I've been able to think to myself." Kaede smiled slightly.

"Well, I think I've had enough of depressing stories for one lifetime." Midna said, "I'm going to try to go to sleep."

"I think that's a good idea." Darin said. "We'll figure this out in the morning." He said to Kaede before lying down in his own bedroll.

A short distance away, Kaede was still muttering under her breath to herself. "I need to get back... I need to apologize to him..."


	8. Chapter 8

Ladoran dreamed he was sitting on an out-of-place chair sitting in the middle of the forest of Elwynn. "I'm... home?" He asked himself aloud.

"Not quite."

Ladoran looked to see a girl lying on a bench next to him. She had shoulder-length golden hair and wore the same red dress, but she looked tired.

"Who are you?" Ladoran.

"Freya." She said, panting.

"Your name is Freya?" Ladoran asked.

"No, you idiot. Hurry up and wake already." She said angrily.

"Wha-" Before he could finished even the first word of his sentence, he woke up coughing. He felt his face, and could feel blood coming from his nose. "A nosebleed? What kind of a dream was that?"

--

Darin, Spencer, Link, Kaede, Midna, and Andima all found themselves in the same train car, the countryside passing by outside the windows.

"What... oh no..." Kaede whispered to herself, looking down the train.

"What is this metal corridor?" Link asked aloud.

"Whoa!" Darin rushed to a window. "We're going so fast!" He said, showing his inner-child.

"This reminds me of that flying beast we rode in your world, Spencer." Midna commented.

"That was a plane, and it wasn't alive either." Spencer explained.

A cough made them look at the floor, where Loomis was lying. "Oh, bother." He got up and dusted off his ragged brown pants.

"Who's this?" Darin asked.

"I'm your friendly uncle." Loomis replied sarcastically.

"This is Loomis." Spencer spat, "He recently tried to exterminate everything as we know it." He scratched his head, "But how..."

"I'll wager your damn gods are somehow sending all of you a vision." Loomis looked around. "And since I inhibit your head, I'm an uninvited guest." He looked down at himself. "Although they must have done something so I'd appear like this. I wonder why..."

"They know what I want." Spencer reasoned.

"Wha-" Loomis looked up only to have Spencer's gloved metallic fist hit him in the face, knocking him over. "Damn it..." He grumbled, deciding not to get back up.

Everyone jumped as Kaede slammed the train car door closed, standing in front of it and looking guilty.

"Kaede?" Darin asked her. "What's wrong?"

"We can't be here. It's not possible." She said, scared of something.

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" They heard a child scream from beyond the door, Kaede's eyes starting to water.

"What's going on?" Andima asked with suspicion.

Darin approached Kaede. "It's all right." He assured her.

"No, it's really isn't." Kaede, protested, shaking her head and tears running down her face. "Is really, really, isn't." Darin gripped the door handle. "Please don't go in there!" She pleaded.

Darin opened the door, and immediately understood why Kaede so desperately didn't want him to open the door.

A small boy, no older than ten, was standing in a bloody mess. A little girl, presumably his little sister, was separated in half in front of him, accompanied by what must have been his decapitated father. Worst of all, a ten-year-old Kaede was standing in front of the poor child.

The Kaede behind Darin gripped her hat. "I'm so sorry..." She breathed. The younger Kaede looked exactly like the one in Darin's dream, but this one wore a blue tuke over her horns.

"Why did you do such a thing!?" The boy cried out. "Weren't we friends?!"

"...We are." The young Kaede said coldly.

"Then why are you so cruel?!" The boy screamed, "Why did you kill Papa and Kanae?!

"You..." The child Kaede said, voice as cold as ice. "What are you saying? It's because I think of you as a friend, that I didn't kill you, don't you think?"

"I can't watch this again!" The matured Kaede ran into the train car, past the poor boy and tackling her younger self. "Stop killing! I won't let you go on!" She yelled.

The others were breathless. "I can see why Zelda might be on such a crusade against her." Midna said.

Suddenly. the bloody mess, the bodies, the boy, and the younger Kaede blinked out of existence. All that could be heard was the train's clacking on the tracks. "What..." Kaede looked up at them with tearful eyes.

"Get over here..." They heard an exhausted voice calling them back to the car they started in. They found the Avatar, sweating and heaving.

"What just happened?" Kaede asked, frustrated, as she caught up to them.

"The vision is collapsing. We don't have much time." The Avatar said.

"Why is that? And what's wrong with you anyway?" Spencer asked.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to send a vision to six people at once? Not to mention two of you don't even have a connection to us." The Avatar explained between breaths.

"What do you want?" Darin asked rudely.

"Shut up. We thought we'd help you." The Avatar explained. The Lights in the other train cars suddenly turned off. "No time. Freya. Eastern port. Go there." She breathed out, as the rest of the train suddenly dissolved.

--

They all woke in Hyrule Field, Kaede with a sharp gasp and sitting bolt upright. She looked around at the others. Midna looked almost breathing as heavily as her, Andima and Link also looked a bit shocked, but Spencer and Darin looked like they just woke from a simple nightmare. The sun was slowly rising in the east. "What... did everyone else just see all that?" Kaede asked them.

"The train? Yeah." Spencer answered.

"Your nose is bleeding, Kaede." Darin observed. Kaede touched her upper lip, and sure enough she was bleeding.

"Damn it, Mine is too." Midna said, she noticed an incredible lack of surprise on Darin and Spencer's faces. "What with you? You don't look like you just had a vision."

"I've had too many of these to be terribly surprised." Spencer commented.

"Do you think it's genetic for the gods to make us lose so much sleep?" Darin asked. "I can't believe I haven't forced this out of you earlier. What happened?"

"Huh?" Spencer asked, still half-asleep.

"What do you mean, 'huh'? You disappeared for six years! What happened!?" Darin inquired.

Spencer, Link, Midna and Andima explained their accidental trip to Earth, stopping Loomis, and Spencer's arm while breaking camp. "We didn't know it had been six years here until Ilia told us so." Link said.

"I kind of suspected we were gone for a while when our house was in such a rotten state." Midna said.

Spencer looked to the pass that led south, thinking he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He shrugged it off and turned to Darin. "You need to take the shortest route to the port that the Avatar described. We just want to briefly visit some friends in Kakriko, then we'll catch up with you. If you can, wait for us. If not, just jump on the next boat to Freya. Your escape is what matters most to me here." He explained.

"But what if we go to Freya and you don't catch up?" Darin asked, concerned. "I don't want to lose you again."

"Don't worry. I'll find you." Spencer reassured him. He turned to Andima, Midna, and Link. "Let's go."

And so, They parted ways. The Quadro continued east, heading for Kakriko village. Darin and Kaede headed north, the shortest route to the eastern fields.


	9. Chapter 9

There was an awkward kind of silence between Darin and Kaede as they travelled through the eastern fields of Hyrule.

"I need to get back." Kaede said, breaking the silence.

"What?" Darin was caught off guard by her statement.

"There's someone I need to... apologize to." She continued.

"Is it that boy?" Darin took an educated guess. Kaede looked at her feet as she walked.

"Yes." She replied. For the next long while no-one said anything. The silence was eventually broken gain by Kaede. "Look out!" She yelled.

"Wha-" One on Kaede's vectors gripped Darin ankle and tripped him, a moblin's blade narrowly missing his head. The moblin, who had rode up behind them on boar, was yanked out of his seat by another on of her vectors. Darin got up as she stood up over the stunned and confused moblin. A vector reached out and gripped the moblin's neck.

Suddenly, all her vectors retreated as she gripped her hat, the faces of hundreds of terrified men, women, and children running through her head. The moblin took his chance and slid out from under her and jumped up, and then unsheathed a small dagger, but before he could use it he was smacked hard upside the head by the blunt of Darin's sword, landing on his face. "Are you alright?" Darin asked her.

"You wouldn't think I would be able to remember every... single... one..." She muttered under her breath.

Darin tried to take her mind off it. "What are we going to do with him?" He nudged the moblin, who lay face-down in the grass.

"I can't kill him." Kaede stated, still shaken.

"I don't think I could either."Darin rubbed his chin.

"I don't think you need to." Kaede stepped back as blood pooled from under the moblin. Darin turned him over with his sword, revealing that he landed on the dagger, puncturing the approximate area of his heart.

"Ooh. Tough luck." Darin looked at the corpse. "Still, the problem remains. What do we do with him?"

Kaede looked about. They stood in a huge grassy field, ponds spotted throughout. The cliffs to the east were visible on the horizon, the sun shining above their heads. Then she noticed a crowd of Kargarocs circling above them. "I think those birds up there might take care of this if we just leave." She suggested.

"I guess you're right." Darin replied.

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Spencer coughed as he, Link, Midna, and Andima arrived in Kakriko village. "Wow. I forgot how dusty this place was." He commented.

"Last time we were here was our wedding." Andima choked on the dust. "And that's only because the shaman lives here."

"Let's go visit Malo, and get out this sandy wind." Midna suggested. They walked over to Malo's somewhat spruced-up shack, holding cloth to their faces to breath.

As soon as they walked in, three swords were at their throats, held by Hylian soldiers. "Hey, hold up there! Easy!" A voice called from behind them. They backed off, allowing the Quadro to see a tewnty-four year old Malo standing behind the counter. He had cut his black hair very short, to the point of almost being bald. He still wore Ordon clothing, despite residing in Kakriko. "Her Highness might have sent you, but that's no reason to try to kill old friends."

"What's with the extra muscle, Malo?" Link asked.

"How about you take a look behind you?" Malo spoke in more of a commanding tone rather than a suggestion.

They turned and stepped back at the sight of their faces on wanted posters, along with Darin and Kaede. Kaede's illustration was ridiculously off the mark, with huge bags under her eyes and a stare that would make children scream.

"And now, I want to be asking the questions here." Malo stated, the Quadro turning back to face him. "Most important: How did you not age?"

"What? Oh!" Spencer realized what he meant. "We didn't actually know we were gone so long, you see we had a bit of trouble with inter-"

"I don't care about your story. Just tell me how you didn't age." Malo persisted.

"Why do you care so much about that? What about us being wanted criminals?" Midna asked, pissed off that Malo had seemed to have become selfish.

"At this rate, I won't be able to keep business running long." Malo explained, "In forty years or so, I'm going to have to get some dumb ass to continue running my chain of shops, probably running them into the ground. I can't have that after all these years of hard work you see. If I simply can stop aging, I'll be able to keep this enterprise running for as long I want!"

"But we didn't stop aging! We just skipped a few years!" Andima insisted.

"Just stay here a day or two. That way I might be able to figure it out." Malo said in a diplomatic tone.

"I'm sorry, but we're leaving." Midna turned and opened the door, only to see at least a hundred soldiers waiting for her.

"We have should a generous ruler, don't you agree?" Malo said.

----------------------------------------

As the sun began to set, Darin and Kaede reached a pass in the eastern cliffs. "I guess this is the place." Darin said, relieved that they made it to the border.

"Wait!"

They turned to see the source of the call, which was Ladoran. He ran towards them, still a far distance away and waving his arms around. "Hey, it's that assassin!" Darin squinted at him.

"Should I be getting ready to stop him?" Kaede asked, not sure if this was a threat.

"I don't think an assassin who intends to kill us calls out and waving his arms around." Darin replied. Finally, Ladoran caught up to them. "And who exactly are you?" Darin inquired.

Ladoran panted for a minute before replying. "Just call me Ladoran. I need you to answer some questions." He looked up at Kaede. "Hey, wait a minute." He remembered the tunnel that he flew through into Hyrule. "You bumped into me!" He pointed at her.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was you who knocked her over." Darin said.

"Huh? Oh, that. Sorry. But that's not it! She bumped into me when... never mind. Now's not the time." Ladoran said.

"Hey.. I remember you! I hit you when I came to this land!" Kaede grabbed Ladoran's neck with her hand. "Tell me how to get back!" She demanded.

Ladoran pushed her off. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be here. Let me give some advice that comes from two years of searching: give up on trying to get back." He turned to Darin, while Kaede looked like her dreams were just shattered. "You're Spencer's son, right?" He asked.

"How do you know my Dad?" Darin asked, unintentionally answering Ladoran's question.

"Good. We need to get out of here." Ladoran said. They head down the pass, coming to a big metal gate.

"My gods, Darin! Now you're associated with that Assassin!?"

They turned to see that Zelda and two-score soldiers had followed them down the pass on horses. Zelda dismounted, conjuring her Bow and arrows of light. "I can't let you go any further." She said.

"Have a jolly good humble pie!" Ladoran called out suddenly, drawing confused attention. When Darin was wondering what the hell he just said, Ladoran pulled Darin's sword out of his sheath and plunged it through himself in one swift movement. "Run..." Ladoran gasped. The soldiers glanced at each other, no one knowing what really happened.

Kaede grabbed Darin's arm as her vectors worked to push the gates open. They ran through as soon as the gates were open wide enough. Zelda snapped out of her confusion, running for the gates as Kaede pushed them closed. Zelda managed to jump through, rolling in the dirt on the other side. Darin and Kaede ran at full pace down the pass, They caught sight of the end when a light arrow zipped past their heads.

Kaede had a sudden thought. She stopped running, Darin stopping in his tracks as soon as she did. "What are you doing!? Run!" He exclaimed. Kaede turned around and jumped to the side to dodge another arrow. She ran at Zelda while she was about to notch an arrow, but a vector gripped the forearm of her bow arm.

"Sorry." Kaede said sympathetically as there was a sickening snap and Zelda's forearm bent, blood staining her royal gloves.

"GYAAAAAHHHH!" Zelda fell to her knees, screaming in pain.

Kaede ran past Darin, "What are you waiting for?" Kaede called to him. He looked at Kaede, then at Zelda, then back at Kaede. Finally he decided to follow her.

Darin caught up to Kaede as she ran onto the nearest boat. A man on the boat was about to stop her when Darin caught up and showed him the inside of his rupee bag. "It's all yours if you leave [i]right now[/i]." Darin said. The sailor ran inside, and shortly they set sail and were leaving Hyrule's briefly visited eastern port. Darin found Kaede panting and sitting on the deck, leaning on a wooden wall. He sat down next to her to catch his breath as well. "What was that?" Darin asked her.

"I... don't know." Kaede looked like she was in pain. "I'm not sure but... I think that voice is coming back... and I didn't realize it until after I broke her arm." She looked at him. "I'm sorry Darin. I've gotten us in even more trouble now." She buried her face in her arms.

Darin was going to say it was alright when she continued. "If what... Ladoran said is true... I need to do me a favor."

"What is it?" Darin asked.

"I had someone else to do this... but now it looks like I'm never going to see them again." Kaede looked at him with a teary face. "If I can't find some way to stop killing... to stop myself from hurting so many innocent people..." She swallowed. "I want you to kill me."


	10. Chapter 10

In the pass just before the gate to the Eastern Port, Ladoran lay on the dirt path, Darin's sword still in his chest. He stumbled to his feet, yanking it out of him. The wound healed almost immediately, but there still remained a hole in his armor. "Ouch" Ladoran groaned and stretched. He reached for his katana only find nothing, not even a sheath. "Ugh... dirty thieving soldiers..." He eventually got up the energy to push the gate open somewhat and walk through. The sun caught him off guard and briefly blinded him as it began to rise over the horizon of the ocean.

The dirt turned into wooden planks, which spread along the coast for the length of five small buildings. Two ships were docked at the moment. Ladoran approached a Hylian sitting outside a building that a sign with "Hylian Coast Inn"

"Did a boat leave last night?" Ladoran asked him.

"Have I seen you before?" The Hylian looked at him strangely.

"I don't think so. Please answer my question." Ladoran insisted.

"Yeah. One of them shipment boats to uh..." The Hylian thought for a name. "Flaya I think. Funny thing too. Was supposed to pick up its shipment this morning, but it a couple people ran on board and it just suddenly lifted anchor and left. A bunch of soldier-ey lookin' guys came out of the pass looking for a couple criminals." The Hylian suddenly looked like he just had an epiphany. "Hey, do you think the criminals were on that there boat?"

Ladoran groaned. "Was that the last boat?"

"Uh... I think that one," The simple Hylian pointed towards to boat on the far- right dock, "Is going to Frenu." Ladoran groaned as he kept guessing Freya's name. He looked at Ladoran like he was accusing him of something. "You're not going there, are you? Full of human's you know. I don't like them, keep talking in long words." He looked down pick a sticky substance from his shoe. "Them humans and their round ears. Sometimes, when I am real angry at them, I wish someone would just go there and kill 'em." He looked up only to see that Ladoran had walked away.

Ladoran approached a man standing on the docks next to the boat the Hylian indicated. "This ship going to Freya?" He asked.

The sailor "This is the finest ship I'll ever work on. She be the Sapphire Pearl. Can go through any-"

"Yeah, yeah." Ladoran interrupted, "Is it going to Freya?"

The sailor looked at him with a touch of anger. "Yeah. What about it?"

"I need to get there as soon as possible." Ladoran said in a pleading tone, "Could I join you on this voyage?"

"Depends. How much cash you got?" The Sailor said.

Ladoran reached for his rupee pouch, which was also missing. "Damn thieving soldiers..." He muttered.

"Soldiers took your cash?" The sailor asked, over hearing him. He looked pensive. "Fine. Scrub the decks, and you're on."

"Thank you." Ladoran was eager to catch Darin for answers, and Kaede, who he wasn't sure was a dangerous murderer or not. "[i]Job or not, if she's dangerous to a lot of people, she needs to go.[/i]" He thought.

----------------------------------------

Back in Kakariko, the Quadro were being kept in a cramped Inn room. Midna peered out the window, seeing that soldiers practically covered the entire road. "This is what we get for trying to say hello." She remarked, sitting her small imp body on an undersized mattress. Her fused shadow sat on the floor.

"It's kind of depressing to see that Malo grew up to be what he is now." Link realized something just after saying that. "Loomis has been pretty quiet lately."

"I've grown tired of putting words in this test subject's mouth- Hey!" Two people spoke out of Spencer's mouth, but when Loomis talked it was in a noticeably colder tone. "I do think that I might be gaining bladder control" Spencer's eyes widened. "What do you-" He paused. "Oh god damn it." He left the room to find cleaner clothing.

Midna found it hard to not look out the window. "Remind me again why we're not just making a violent escape from this dusty town?" She sneered at the soldiers who noticed her looking out the window.

"They already think we've sided with a mass-murderer." Andima explained, "We don't want to give them more reason to hunt us."

"What about your son?" Midna argued, "The sun is setting and he's probably already on a boat. How will we catch up if we have to stay here for days?"

"What exactly do you suggest we do?" Andima asked, getting frustrated.

At that moment, Spencer entered the room with baggy white cloth pants. "You know, when we were on earth, we really should have got more pairs of jeans." He said, walking into the room. He noticed Midna and Andima's glares at each other. "Did I interrupt something?"

Midna turned back to Andima. "I think we should unleash the twilight fury on their asses." She seemed determined.

"Who's asses?" Spencer leaned against the wall.

Andima began to explain. "She wants to-"

"Hey Spencer, do that arm-blade thing of yours." Midna interrupted. Andima considered the repercussions of drop kicking a certain imp across the room.

"Huh?" Spencer looked at his right arm. "Yeah, I'm not quite sure how to do that."

"Then figure it out." Midna shrugged, laying back on the mattress.

"It's not that easy!" Andima replied hotly.

"Sure it is." Midna looked at Spencer. "When did it show up?"

"Uh... when it was needed?" Spencer guessed.

"No, it can't be that." Midna looked pensive.

"Why the hell not?" Andima questioned her.

"He didn't really need it when he killed a helpless old man on the ground, did he?" Midna reasoned.

"When you word it like that it make me sound the bad guy." Spencer said with a touch of guilt.

"I got it!" Link snapped his fingers. "Both times it came out, you were really angry!"

"Thanks for stealing my thunder." Midna grumbled.

"I think you're right." Spencer remembered the events in the castle. "But what's there to be mad about?"

"Are you kidding?" Midna asked, bewildered. "You're being held against your will in a cramped inn room!"

"For some reason that doesn't bother me too much." Spencer sighed.

"How about this, then?" Midna persisted. "You've been separated from your son, who hasn't seen you in six years. Not only that, but right now he is probably alone on a boat with a bunch of strange men! He's even a wanted criminal! Not to mention he's travelling with only a girl you barely know and she's-" She was interrupted by the bar on Spencer's forearm suddenly extending into a blade.

"Happy?" He asked, irritated.

"Very." Midna smiled and put on her fused shadow.

Moments later outside the Inn, the soldiers drew their weapons. This was most likely caused by the Inn doors slamming open, an unconscious guard flying through. He was immediately followed by the Quadro running out the doors, making their way to the north exit of the village. Link and Spencer used the blunt of their blades to knock them down, Midna used a fused shadow hair-fist, and Andima shocked them with weakened bolts of electricity to stun them.

They ran up the pass, crossing the narrow stone bridge into Hyrule's grassy eastern fields. "Wait a second!" Midna turned around as the rest of them stopped.

"What are you doing?!" Andima yelled. The crowd of remaining soldiers appeared in the pass.

"Giving us time." She flung twili energy at the stone bridge, a portal opening above. "Nnnngggg.... YAH!" She grunted as she lifted her tiny arms and the midsection of the bridge detached itself and flew into the air, disintegrating into black particles. The soldiers stopped dead in their tracks, throwing their weapons down and yelling in frustration.

"Nicely done." Link complemented her.

"T'was nothing." Midna boasted.

"Maybe we can get some rest now." Spencer suggested, the blade on his arm receding back into a block.

"Sounds like a plan." Andima yawned. "I don't think I've used that much power in a long time."


	11. Chapter 11

A day passed on the ship, which Darin had found out was called the "Coast Drifter". He and Kaede didn't have to do much on the ship, as the sailors were more than happy with just half the bag of rupees. Kaede spent most of the day wandering aimlessly around the ship, thinking about her past. Darin tried to offer her some food, but she found that even by the end of the day she couldn't conjure up an appetite. She ended up on the back of the ship, watching the sun set. Darin approached her, leaning on the railing beside her. "How's it going?" He asked.

"Fine... I guess." She looked at the path the ship wove in the water, "I'm so sorry for everything I put you through..." She held her head in her hands.

"Hey, are you alright?" Darin asked her, concerned.

"No... well, I guess so. Just..." She rubbed her eyes and looked toward the sunset. "I've had far too much time to think today." She turned to Darin, who noticed her eyes were red from crying. "What I don't understand is _how_ I could have done those things. I can't imagine being able to do them now... how was I able to so willingly do them then?" She asked Darin questions he couldn't answer.

Darin wasn't sure what to say. He put an arm around her, trying to comfort guilt he couldn't comprehend. "I guess you must be a better person than you were then." He looked towards the sunset, squinting at the light. "I hadn't realized the ocean gave us such a great view." He commented, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know what to think anymore." Kaede sighed.

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Kaede found herself on the deck of the ship. She leaned on the railing, watching the sun set. Darin approached her. "How's it going?" He asked.

"Fine... I guess." She replied, "I'm sorry I got you into so much trouble." She felt oddly calm.

"Don't worry," Darin voice suddenly got a higher pitch, "you only do what you were made to." Kaede suddenly flicked her head around to see that Darin had been replaced with that creepy little girl that calls herself 'Instinct'. "Miss me?"

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"AGH!" Kaede sat bolt-upright in her bunk. The ship lurched to the side, making her fall out onto the floor.

As she hit the floor, she heard someone above her hit the wall. "Ow!" Darin groaned. The ship lurched to the other side, rolling her across the floor and Darin falling out of bed, landing next to her,. They came face to face. It was a silent, awkward moment for a while, with the exception of the sound of rain pounding on the deck above. "I uh..." Darin got up, "I'll go see what's happening outside." He stumbled to the door while the boat was still rocking from side to side, the wind slamming the door shut right after he was out.

Kaede felt her face, which felt warm despite it being so cold she could see her breath. She got herself up using a top bunk to lift herself, and looked out the small window. It was night, and huge waves hit the ship, accompanied by heavy rain. A coastline could be seen in the distance. The ship suddenly lurched to the side again, making her fall over. He thoughts turned to Darin, who was outside with no walls to stop him. "Oh no..." She picked up her hat and rushed outside.

Outside, it was truly a horrific storm. Rain pooled on the deck, and the sky was filled with angry dark grey clouds. Lightning illuminated a coast to the right of the ship. "Darin!" She called out, but her voice was drowned in the surrounding havoc of the storm. She looked around desperately for Darin, only seeing panicking sailors running about. Another huge wave hit the ship, lurching it towards the coast. Kaede fell and rolled into the railing.

Back aching, she noticed a single hand gripping the rail from off the ship. More importantly, a gold triangle glowed on the gloved hand. "Darin!" She used the rail to steady herself, and leaned over to grab Darin's forearm, who looked up with a surprised look on his face.

Kaede had begun to pull him up when yet another wave hit, sending her over the edge. A vector reached out and caught the railing, her physical hands still tight on Darin's arm. Her vector tried pulling them back, but the rail finally broke from the strain, sending them both into the sea.

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The first thing Darin did when he straggled back into consciousness was cough up water. He heard Kaede speak as though she was far away. "Darin?" As his senses returned to him, he realized he was lying on sand, and the air smelled of salt. He could still feel rain falling on his face. He opened his eyes to the sight of Kaede's worried face.

"Where's your hat?" He asked, still not really all there. As his vision focused, he realized she was wearing it as always.

Kaede gave a laugh of relief.

"What's so funny?" Darin asked, confused.

"I save your life and the first thing you do is ask what happened to my hat." Kaede hugged him as he sat up. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"I can't remember... what happened?" Darin asked.

"The ship must have run into a storm. We fell off, and well, an hour later here we are." She rose her head and looked around. "Now we just need to figure out where 'here' is..." Lightning flashed and thunder boomed over their heads. "Let's try to find some shelter." She helped Darin to his wobbly feet. Choosing not to go in-land as it looked swampy and there was no chance of someone seeing them, they wandered along the beach until they found a large rock that had a concave side facing the ocean. They sat under the cover of the rock, the sand was damp but at least rain didn't fall on them.

"Your music box!" Darin suddenly remembered his bag.

"Huh?" Kaede had been thinking of something else.

"We lost your music box... it must have fallen in the water." Darin explained.

"It alright, I guess." Kaede tried to force a smile. "If what Ladoran said is true, and I can't go back... I guess I'll try to forget my life..." She looked away. "Who am I kidding... you can't forget a life like mine."

There was few moments of silence before Darin tried to change the subject. "It's pretty cold. I wonder where we are."

"If we're lucky, I guess we'd be in Freya." Kaede forced a small laugh. "That would mean we're anywhere but there, with my luck."

"I have no idea what any of the places were like outside Hyrule." Darin remarked, "When my Father told me stories, they would mostly be in Hyrule. Sometimes he would talk about where he came from. According to him, people rode about in metal boxes-"

"Cars." Kaede corrected him.

Darin looked at her, mildly surprised. "You've been there?"

"It's where I'm from." Kaede stated.

"Maybe, if we can, we should go there sometime." Darin suggested, "I think I'd like-"

"No." Kaede gripped his arm, looking slightly afraid. "Don't you ever go there. That place is cruel to people who are different."

"My father always regarded it with fondness..." Darin said.

"He's human." Kaede pointed out. "He was able to fit in. It wasn't that easy for me." A few more moments of silence passed, until Kaede slid toward Darin.

"What now?" Darin blinked, trying to stay awake.

"You mentioned it was cold..." Kaede said. Darin couldn't be sure in the darkness of the night, but it looked like Kaede's face was a bit red. "If we sit closer together we might share some body heat." Darin didn't have any objection to that. An hour passed, feeling like an eternity. Eventually Kaede leaned her head on Darin's shoulder, falling asleep. Darin struggled for consciousness, but eventually fell to exhaustion.


	12. Chapter 12

The Quadro arrived at the port in the morning after they escaped Kakariko. They walked onto the dock, passing the simple-minded Hylian sitting outside the Hylian Coast Inn. Something that Hylian was holding caught Link's eye. It was a familiar Katana with a thin green handle. Link tapped Spencer's shoulder. "Haven't we seen that somewhere?" He asked.

"Hey, yeah..." Spencer walked over to the Hylian. "Where'd you get that?"

"Oh hey," The Hylian paused, noticing Spencer's rounded ears. "Oh. just found it in the pass. What do you want?"

"When did you find it?" Spencer inquired.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" The Hylian rudely suggested.

Andima noticed the trouble Spencer was having with the Hylian and walked over. "We're just curious where you'd find something like that."

The Hylian's mood brightened. "Well pretty lady, for you, sure." He grinned, "To tell the truth, It was a couple days ago. A couple ran onto a boat, which suddenly lifted anchor and left. One of 'em stuck out like a sore thumb with their pink hair. A bunch of soldiery-lookin' guys came out of the pass lookin' for someone, but they left pretty hastily. I think I heard someone screamin' down the pass, too. After everything settled, I went to take a look. Some purple guy was lying in the path, with this pretty little thing on his back. I figured he wouldn't be using it anymore." He kept polishing the blade.

He was startled when Spencer gripped his collar and lifted him into the air. "What do you mean, 'purple guy'?" He interrogated.

"Get off of me!" The Hylian tried to push him away. Spencer didn't loosen his grip. "The guy looked like an elf. Purple skin." The Hylian thought of something. "That can't be it... I was just talking to him a day ago..." His train of thought was interrupted by Spencer throwing him against the wall.

"We'll be taking this." Spencer said, picking up the dropped sword. He eyed the sheath, which lay under the chair.

"Oh no. You don't get this!" The Hylian picked up the sheath and held it behind him.

"Hand it over." Spencer ordered.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" The Hylian exclaimed.

Link, Midna, and Andima noticed they had accumulated an uncomfortably large crowd. Andima tapped Spencer on the shoulder. "I think we should try to get a boat." She tried to steer him away from a fight.

Spencer considered it, eying the Hylian with contempt. "Fine." He rose the sword. "But I'm keeping this." He led them through the staring crowd.

"What's with the sudden theft?" Midna asked.

"This was Ladoran's sword." Spencer said, holding it in his hand.

"You really think he may have ended up here?" Link asked.

"It's not like I was directing that portal." Loomis' said out of Spencer's mouth. "But then again I'd expect him to be alive. I was making his body invincible for me, after all. I doubt anything here could really harm him."

"What's this?" Andima asked, laughing a bit. "The big bad is explaining things to us?"

"I think Spencer's rubbing off on me." Loomis said, "Then again..." Spencer's mechanical fist suddenly rose and struck him in the face.

"What the hell!?" Spencer stumbled back, surprised by the sudden loss of control in his artificial arm.

"I think I might be rubbing off on him." Loomis said, a calm voice despite the panicked expression on Spencer's face.

----------------------------------------

Darin was shaken awake hours later. "Hey, kid. Come on."

He rose his head, which had drooped to the side. His neck was sore from staying in that position all night. He opened his eyes, blurred vision of someone standing over him coming to him. He lifted his hand to rub his eyes, blinked, then realized it was none but Ladoran standing over him.

Kaede woke, lifting her head off Darin's shoulder. She looked up at Ladoran, an expression of confusion appearing on her face. "You're dead." She stated, still half-asleep.

"You'd be surprised at what doesn't kill me. Come on, we gotta go." Ladoran reached a hand out to them.

"Huh? You died... now we're going where now? Freya?" Darin was barely conscious.

"You know about it? Ah, just get up already. The ship isn't going to wait on me much longer." Ladoran helped them to their feet. He led them to a boat, which was anchored just off the coast.

"How did you manage this? How did you find us?" Darin was curious to know the whole story.

"I've become a valuable member of the crew on this ship." Ladoran led them onto a row boat. "So I was able to get the Captain to stop for me to pick you up."

"How'd you see us?" Kaede wondered.

"No offence, but your hair kind of sticks out like a beacon." Ladoran answered, "OH, and I don't think I caught your name. The posters said your name was Lucy, but I think Darin called you-"

"Kaede." She told him.

"Ah. Good to know." Ladoran acknowledged. "If you're wondering where you are, you're in Freya."

"Then why'd you pick us up?" Darin asked him, starting to feel uneasy.

"Wouldn't you rather get a boat ride to the nearest town than walk through unknown lands?" Ladoran reasoned.

"Oh." Darin relaxed.

The sun was high above their heads as they docked at a town that looked half the size of Castle Town back in Hyrule. Ladoran thanked the crew of the Sapphire Pearl for they ride, and Darin gave them a few orange rupees. As they left the docks, a young man approached them. "You look like travelers! Welcome to Nayoc, Freya's southernmost city!" He greeted them, "Here, have a free map, courtesy of His Majesty, King Maximillion the Second." He shoved a map titled "Freya" into Kaede's hands.

"Uh... thanks." Kaede replied, stunned by the sudden generosity of a stranger.

The man looked remotely concerned for a moment. "Are you not well, miss?" He asked.

"No, no... I'm fine." This was a lie, as even Darin was able to notice that she looked like she was under stress.

"Hey, do you think you could go into town for us and buy some supplies?" Darin handed Ladoran his rupee bag. "I think Kaede might need to rest."

"I'm fine." She asserted, despite breathing hard and rubbing her head. "Let's just get into town and find some place to stay." The headed for the town gates, Kaede growing more and more uncomfortable as she realized everyone but them were humans.

Ladoran and Darin pushed the gates open, greeted by cobblestone roads lined with building of wood and bricks. Signs hung outside some of the buildings, indicating them as shops or Inns. "Why aren't you killing them!?" An angry voice rang inside Kaede's head. "Rip! Tear! Anything! KILL!"

"It's almost as big as castle town!" Darin said, impressed. "Hey, Kaede-" He looked over his shoulder to see that she was missing. "Kaede?" He left the doors, looking around the docks. He turned back to Ladoran. "You try to find some supplies, bedroll, food, all that kind of stuff. I'll go look for her." Darin jogged down the docks, coming to an end that turned into a dirt path. He found Kaede sitting on a rock, muttering something to herself. "Kaede?" Darin approached her. She turned her head to look at him.

"It was a mistake to come here." She claimed, "I can't live among humans. I've tried. It just doesn't work." She suddenly gasped in pain and gripped her head.

"Hey! What's wrong?!" Darin ran over to her.

"There's someone in my head... telling me to kill them." She looked up at him. "Ooh, it [i]really[/i] doesn't like you."

"Who the hell would be in your head?" Darin asked, sitting on the rock beside her.

"Hell, not even I'm sure." Kaede said. "It calls itself my instinct. But isn't instinct just supposed to be mild suggestions your brain makes up, or reflexes? Not screams for murder!" She held her head in pain. "When it screams... it hurts so much..." Darin put an arm around her, noticing in his head that he seemed to be doing this a lot lately.

"Kaede..." He tried to think of something to say to relax her, maybe explain things, but he couldn't come up with anything. She looked up at him with watery eyes.

"Darin..." She placed a hand on his cheek.

"There you are!" Ladoran jogged around the corner, startling Kaede and Darin, the latter sliding off the rock. Ladoran stopped at the sight of Darin lying the ground. "Did I interrupt something?"

Kaede brushed hair out her face, blushing slightly. "Uh... No." She said.

"Ah." Ladoran rose the bag in his right hand. "They apparently don't accept rupees as currency here, instead using these odd little things." He held up a gold coin, an emerald embedded in the center. "The color-coding is the same, so I don't see why they don't just use rupees... ah well. I got all our rupees exchanged into these coins. I got us some bread, and some Sheppard's pie a woman was overjoyed to give to me..." He pulled out a pie carefully, scratching his head. He placed it back in the bag, looking up at Darin. "So what was all that about?"

Kaede was about to speak when Darin did it for her. "Ah, nothing. It would probably be a good idea to get as far away from the port as possible," He pulled out the map of Freya. He pointed at the middle. "Let's try Mayon. But we should go around the town, rather than through it." He got up, groaning and rubbing his bottom. He held a hand out to Kaede. "Shall we?"


	13. Chapter 13

A robed figure entered Telma's Inn, their right arm in a sling. A large hood concealed their identity as she strode past Telma and into the back room, closing a relatively new door behind her. They sat down at the circular table in the middle of the room, where the remaining members of the Eye, Wesley and Yadis, were sitting.

The robed figure pulled off her Hood to reveal her identity as Queen Zelda herself. "I was not followed. What information do you have of Lucy?" She inquired.

"We know where she is." Wesley leaned back in his chair, "Along with all those other criminals and our former leader."

"How do you know this?" Zelda interrogated, "Explain your sources so that I may be able to trust you."

Wesley rolled up his sleeve to make a tattoo of en eye visible on his forearm. "Members of our group have this tattoo, and with it come a kind of mental link." He leaned forward. "Kind of how when you know a person, and they happen to mention something you were just thinking about. This link is sort of like that, just stronger. We sometimes hear eachother's thoughts."

"Your leader is dead. I saw him run himself through with a sword." Zelda told them.

Wesley laughed in her face. "Our former leader has quite a history. His body isn't so easy to kill. In fact, a few hours later he probably just got up and walked away with a little heartache."

Zelda sighed. "Even if everything you told me is true, where are they?"

"We just have this to go on: 'First day in Freya and people are already handing me gifts.'" Wesley said.

"Freya? Isn't that the isle to the east?" Zelda asked, eyes flickered to Yadis. "And why isn't he doing anything? It unnerves me."

"I haven't felt the need for my input." Yadis explained, monotone.

"He doesn't talk much." Wesley chuckled. "To answer your question, yes. We believe that our former leader, along with the criminals you seek, have fled to the Isle of Freya. We'll be willing to accompany you should you decide to hunt down these people. We feel the need to... tie up our relations with out former leader."

Zelda considered it, chewing her bottom lip. Stay here and let criminals run free in someone else's lands, or leave her kingdom and hunt them down. Memories of Kaede's murders made her decide. "I'll be in travelling condition after two days of healing spells. We'll meet here this time in two days, to begin our pursuit." She planned out to them.

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Darin, Kaede, and Ladoran followed a dirt path that circled around Eynoc, sticking close to the tall city walls. They eventually came to another gate, which a nearby guard indicated was the northern entrance. They began following the thin cobblestone road north, which to thier dissapointment quickly degenerated into a muddy trail. Soon the soles of thier boots (Or shoes in Kaede's case) were caked with the mud of the swamp.

"Ugh... I hope this swamp doesn't go on much longer." Darin complained.

Kaede held her shirt to her mouth. "I don't think I've ever been in a place that's this humid or with such a horrible stench."

"This place reminds me of somewhere back home, although it has a lot less giant spiders and zombies..." Ladoran seemed used to this enviroment.

"What are you talking about?" Darin asked him.

"Oh... sorry, just rambling." Ladoran replied.

The mud of the swamp became deep, rising up to thier ankles. "I'm starting to consider going to back to Hyrule and just throwing anyone who disturbs us across the field." Kaede said.

"Hold that thought." Darin raised a hand to point at a lighter shade of green ahead. "We're almost out of here!"

"What are you waiting for? Let's hurry up!" Kaede tried to run when the ankle-deep muck kept her at a painfully slow pace. A thought struck her. "Why haven't I thought of this before?"

Darin looked back to Kaede's who used two Vectors to pound at the mud beneath her, sending her into the air and mud splashing at Ladoran and Darin. She used the same two vectors to ensure a safe landing on the green grass of the woods beyond the swamp. Darin and Ladoran caught up to her, covered in dripping, thick mud. They looked unimpressed.

"Ooh... Sorry." Kaede apologized, smiling a bit. Darin saw this, and decided that if made her of all people able to smile, it was worth it.

After leaving the swamp, the path was more easily identifiable in the thin woods. The sun set as the woods became thicker; trees becoming closer together, space that wasn't taken by trees was bushes, most with sharp stalks or leaves. The path was overgrown quite a bit, but at least it wasn't ankle-deep mud. Little to no light managed its way through the deep forest, making it hard to see.

"Are we anywhere near being able to sleep?" Ladoran asked.

"We've walked through these woods for hours and haven't found a clearing." Darin pulled out his map. "According to this, we should be near a little village called... Nukva." He tripped and stumbled over a root. "And I hope we're close. It's becoming hard to keep my eyes open, not that that makes much difference in this darkness."

"Hey, I think I see some far-off lamps!" Ladoran pointed over Darin's head, even if they really couldn't see that he did.

Kaede looked at the two red dots in the distance. "I thought lamps were typically... yellow."

"Yeah..." Darin agreed as the dots suddenly dissapeared. "What were those?" He wondered aloud. He tripped again, but this time whatever it was shifted slightly, and felt soft. "Hey, stop." He leaned down in the darkness, feeling around with a gloved hand. Whatever it was, it felt warm, and soft. "Aww no..." He groaned as he realized it was a corpse. He stood up.

"Darin?" Kaede asked, "What is it?"

"I think we should hurry." Darin said, doing his best not to vomit, or otherwise worry them. "Just... tread carefully." They walked for another couple hours, before Darin gave up on finding Nukva tonight. "Alright, I'm sorry, but I just can't keep going. We'll probably have better luck in the morning. for now, we should roll out our bedrolls along the path." He thought of the body he found. "Though someone nedds to stay watch."

"Since when are you leader?" Ladoran questioned him. "I helped you escape both an army of Soldiers and a freezing beach."

"I agree with Darin. I don't know about you and you pants, but these bushes have done no favours for my unprotected legs." Kaede reasoned.

"Fine. I guess I'll stay up, I'm used to it. Just don't sleep too long, alright?" Ladoran requested.

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"You know, I'm really dissapointed in you."

Kaede, found herself in the void of her mind again, Instinct talking to her. "Why don't you get out of my head?" Kaede said hatefully.

"My, my, how rude. Didn't I tell you that's like telling me to get out of my own house?." Instinct paced around, and if you couldn't hear what she was saying you'd think she was a little girl out for a walk. "Don't you remember the fun we had?"

"I never had [i]fun[/i]. I only did those things because you convinced me they deserved it." Kaede argued, regret in her voice.

"Hmm... in fact, if this was a house, you would be the lazy roomate." Insitnct looked up, a decievingly innocent look on her face. "Never does her work, to make the world a place for herself. It must be that damn child that got joined with you. Before her, you were willing to do everything you needed to."

"I'm never going to allow you to make me do anything again." Kaede claimed.

"You think you have a choice?!" Instinct suddenly stopped and yelled at her angrily. "I've been kind! If I wanted to, We could very well switch places! You be the helpless little subconsious and I'll be in control!" She seemed to calm down. "But I'm too kind. I'll let you prance around." She sudden whipped around with a kick to Kaede's gut, sending her to the ground, Instinct stood over her. "But damn, I might just have to lose my patience one of these days."

"AAGH!" A scream echoed into Kaede's mind.

"Oh." Insinct remarked absent-mindedly. "I guess you'd best wake up. I don't want you to die on me, after all."

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When Kaede woke up, sitting bolt upright, morning light had begun to filter through the woods, letting her see her surroundings. In front of her Ladoran was shoving Darin awake, his right hand holding a wound on his left shoulder. "Hey! This is no time to sleep in! Wake up!"

Darin groaned and mumbled something about Ilia waking up too early before he saw Ladoran's bloody shoulder. This made him sit up and rub his eyes. "What happened?!" He asked, confused.

"This thing... I don't know what the hell it was. It leaped out a tree and bit me!" Ladoran nodded towards his shoulder. "I tried stabbing it, and sure enough it fell, but it's flesh just knit it self back together!" He glanced bhind him. "I took of it's head, and I think that did it in. But I don't want to stay here much longer."

Kaede blinked, trying to understand Ladoran's rapid speech in her half-asleep state. "Wait, why aren't you healing?" She asked.

"I have no clue!" Ladoran exclaimed with a touch of frustration. "Let's just get the flying hell out of here!" He looked up, above Kaede's head. Blood drained from his face. "Ooooooh shit."

Kaede looked above her head, and saw many creatures staring at them with glowing red eyes. They were hideous; they looked as if someone took the average joe, extended his mouth into an insane grin, teeth entended into fangs. They had gone bald, and looked like four-legged spiders, their arms as long as thier legs. Thier skin has gone pale and grey, and it looked like it was stretched across their bones. Their noses had fallen off, leaving two holes in the middle of thier faces.

Kaede stared at them in horror until Ladoran grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Run!" He yelled. The three ran down the thin forest path, leaving their bedrolls behind as the monsters jumped from tree to tree above them.

"Ooh, interesting." Kaede heard Instinct's voice in her head.

"Shut up." She thought. Kaede stumbled on a root, but kept running, trying to navigate the woods. The monsters dropped down to ground level, running with all four limbs, saliva running out of their mouths.

"You know, you really have changed." Instinct's voice echoed through her head. "I can see why you might think humans don't deserve death, what with you being almost human. But I didn't think you wouldn't even defend you and your friends."

"Shut up." Kaede grew irritated.

"Don't you see what you've become? Without me you're just a helpless little girl." Instinct irritated her further. "With me you could become invulnerable."

"STOP IT!" Kaede screamed, stopping in her tracks. Darin and Ladoran stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing!?" Ladoran called out to her.

Darin drew in a sharp breath as she turned around to face the monsters, all four of her vectors extending to reach out towards the coming beasts.

"What in the…" Ladoran gasped as the monsters were ripped apart by a force invisible to his eyes. Even Darin's eyes couldn't keep up with the speed at which her vectors were working. The monster's limbs were ripped apart, flung throughout the forest, their blood soaking the dirt of the woods. Eventually, not one of the freakish creatures were in one piece, each and every one strewn across the forest. The silence that followed was only accompanied by Kaede's rattled breathing.

"Kaede?" Darin spoke with a tone of nervousness. Kaede ignored him, turning and walking past them.

"I think I need to know a bit more about you guys." Ladoran said.


	14. Chapter 14

The Quadro were able to find a boat that was willing to take them aboard, but only really due to Link's fame. They had travelled on this boat, called "Sea Stride", for a day. Loomis continued to use Spencer's mechanical arm against him, crushing cups that Spencer tried to hold, breaking railings he tried to lean on, and even swinging at people to get him in trouble. In the cabin they had been given, The Quadro sat as Andima managed to magically fasten Spencer's arm to the wall.

"I always knew someone would have to tie you down." Midna remarked.

"Shut up. It's not his fault." Andima stepped back. "There. Try to get out of that one."

Spencer strained his arm against the invisible magic constraints. "Seems good." He said, somewhat depressed. "I guess I'll have to sit in this spot until we dock."

"I wish." Midna floated over to his arm, looking at where it connected to the metal shoulder attached directly to his flesh. "That girl, Winry, said this was removable." She found a button, or something that resembled a button, that pressed down, but sprang back up when she let go. She felt around the arm, and found three similar buttons, so small that normally some kind of tool would be needed to press them down, but her tiny imp fingers managed to fit. "Let's see what these do…" She used both hands to press them down at once.

"AAGGHFFPPHPH!" Spencer covered his mouth, face cringing in pain.

"Ooh, sorry." Midna's apology almost sounded sincere.

The expression of pain faded from Spencer's face. "Hey, wait a second. I can't feel my-" He pulled away, and to everyone's surprise his arm slid out of the socket. "…arm…" He finished. He stood up, only to stumble left and lean on the wall with his left hand. "Now I just need to learn to walk again…"

Midna floated back the bed on the other side of the room, sitting next to Link. "I think we have bigger problems right now." She mentioned.

Spencer stared down at his feet as he tried to walk across the cabin, only to stumble again and fall against the wall. "Like what?"

Andima sighed, sitting on her bunk bed. "Let's start with us being criminals now."

"You do know that we didn't do anything wrong, right?" Link said, stopping to think for a moment. "Well, aside from breaking out from the Kakriko Inn."

"Who's to say that Kaede character was telling the truth?" Midna argued.

"If Darin trusts her enough to run from the only place he's ever known, she can't be all that bad." Andima reasoned.

"Or she's really good at deceiving him as well as us." Spencer said, rubbing his temples with his hand. "Why can't we just come home and not be forced out again before we have a chance to do anything?"

"I wonder what would've happened if your son had just stayed in Ordon a couple more days." Link leaned back on the wall behind him. "We wouldn't be in such a mess if only your son was little more patient.

"Don't blame Darin." Andima's words sounded like a command.

"But it seems like his fault, doesn't it?" Link said. "If he hadn't left Ordon and met that girl, then went and got wanted, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"At least they have a son!" Everyone stared at Midna's sudden outburst.

"What?" Link thought he didn't hear her right.

"Never mind. It was nothing." Midna looked away.

Link gestured the door to Andima using his eyes. A look of understanding appeared on her face. "Hey," She said, grabbing Spencer's hand. "Let's get some fresh air." She and Spencer left the cabin.

Link gently moved Midna's head to face him. "What did you mean?" He asked.

Tears were welling up in Midna's eyes. "Looking back on it… I should have told you earlier, before everything like this happened…"

"What are you talking about?" Link asked, confused.

"I wanted to have a child, Link!" Midna confessed. "I.. just waited too late to tell you… and now we can't…" She put her head in her hands, crying.

"You're not going to be an Imp forever." Link reassured her, "We'll find some way to take Loomis' power away, just you wait."

"It's impossible. He's invincible." Midna said.

"All the bad guys say that. Zant wasn't so invincible, was he?" Link put an arm around her.

"I guess… Let's just try to hurry and get rid of him." Midna sighed.

- - - - -

Darin finally spoke up to Kaede, who was leading them through the thin, overgrown path of the woods. "What happened?" He asked.

It was a moment of silence before she replied, not looking back at him. "Can you still keep your promise?" She asked.

_"If I can't find some way to stop killing... to stop myself from hurting so many innocent people..."_

Darin thought to what she said on the ship.

_"I want you to kill me." _

"I don't know if I would be able to do that…" Darin said. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Those weren't innocent people. You saved our lives."

"It doesn't help." Kaede said, moving his hand off her shoulder. "I still hate what I am."

"What you _were_. You're a good person now, no matter what you may have done in your past." Darin wanted to help her, but wasn't sure how.

"I can't even walk into a town without having an urge to kill." Kaede's head drooped.

Darin didn't know what to say to that. He looked up, seeing wooden cottages. "Hey, I think we made it to Nukva!" He said, pointing over her shoulder. "Come on!" He grabbed her hand and ran towards the small village, Ladoran following behind, wondering why the bite on his shoulder hadn't healed.

Nukva was a small village, with an Inn and three houses surrounding what looked like a chapel. As they entered the village, Ladoran felt a kind of weak burning sensation on his wounded shoulder, which didn't fade. No one was outside to see them. It was oddly silent, not even a bird chirping.

"This place is a lot less hospitable than I had hoped." Darin remarked, looking around. "Let's see if anyone's in the stone building over there." He led them inside the chapel.

As they entered, they heard an old feminine voice greet them, which echoed through the tall hall lined with stained glass windows. "Welcome to the Chapel of Scenaria. What do you seek?" Ladoran noticed the burn getting worse as they entered.

The three looked about for the source of the voice, before Darin spotted someone sitting in the front pew. All that was visible from the entrance was the back of the woman's head, which was covered in short brown hair. Darin spoke up. "We're on our way to uh…" He pulled out his map, looking at the Capital city in the middle. "…Mayon."

The woman stood up and turned to face them. "You're rather brave to some this far on land."

"What do you mean by that?" Darin asked.

"Surely you've encountered the Ravagers if you've been outdoors at this hour." The woman said calmly.

"Yeah, I think we met them." Ladoran stepped forward, holding a still bleeding shoulder.

The woman's face turned to mix of worry and fear. "Oh my gods." She gasped. She ran over to look at the bite. She looked only a couple years older than Darin, dressed in a white robe. "Did one of them do this?"

"Yeah. Why?" Ladoran seemed unnerved at the woman's sudden concern.

She looked up as his face. "Well, you certainly aren't human…" She looked like she was thinking hard. "Perhaps the effects will be delayed, or if you're lucky, won't take root at all. In any case, you should get to Mayon as soon as possible. There is a mage there that will be able to help, but I'm afraid I forgot his name. He's well known, anyone in the city would be able to tell you his name." She looked up at Darin and Kaede. "Come to think of it, you two aren't really human either. I mean no offense."

"We're not really from around here." Darin said, scratching the back of his head. "My name's Darin. Her name's Kaede." He said, gesturing to Kaede, who she noticed was trying to fake a smile.

"Ah, my apologies. I am Allyie, priestess of Scenaria. This Chapel has been blessed to ward off the Ravagers." The woman introduced herself. She looked at Ladoran, "And you are?"

"Ladoran. And what do you mean, effects? What mage in wherever? What's wrong with me?" Ladoran threw a slew of questions at the poor woman.

The priestess put her hand on Ladoran's good shoulder. "Don't let it worry you. Stay in Nukva for a day. If you left now you would still be in the woods by nightfall." She advised. Ladoran felt a wave of calmness wash over him, as if he weren't stuck in a village that lay in the middle of a monster-filled forest.

Darin noticed a five pointed star that had appeared on the back of Allyie's hand, the top point glowing white. "What's that?" He asked, indicating her hand.

"Oh," The priestess took her hand off Ladoran. "You've spotted it." She turned to the statue of a robed woman that was in the front of the chapel. "It's not just this land that's been blessed." She looked at her hand, "I've been blessed with the star-point of Charity, by Scenaria herself."

"What of Charity?" Kaede whispered to Darin.

"Um, sorry if this seems disrespectful," Darin stepped forward, "But we're not familiar with the…" Darin looked for the word. "Deities of this place."

"Try 'Deities of anywhere'" Kaede muttered.

"That only applies to you." Darin whispered back.

"I thought you might not." Allyie turned back to them, "With all due respect, you three don't really look like you are from Freya. I can tell you anything you want later, for now let's find you people a place to stay." It seemed like the priestess didn't have a bad bone in her body.


	15. Chapter 15

Priestess Allyie led Ladoran, Darin, and Kaede to the Inn that sat across the dirt road, and was barely the size of a house. Inside, it felt more like an oversized shack than a building. A man with pale skin looked up, with a head of red hair and stubble on his face. "Customers?" He gave a small laugh. "You must be lost."

"Be nice, Kurtis." Allyie chastised him. "They just need a place to stay for the day."

"Do they have cash?" Kurtis asked.

"Kurtis! Don't be so selfish!" Allyie retorted.

"We have lots of money..." Ladoran said.

Allyie turned back, a determined look on her face. "That's won't be necessary." She turned back to Kurtis. "You have four rooms that have been empty for months. Would it hurt to let three stay for free?" She approached Kurtis, who backed off.

"Hey! I'm not about to let you make me make decisions while under your... _influence_." Kurtis said.

Allyie stopped at the counter. "We never need cash. The king sends us our food every week, as a donation. As soon as we get a road paved and get rid of the Ravagers, we can start charging money to pay his majesty back."

"And how the hell do you propose we get 'rid' of the Ravagers? Their numbers are constantly rising by idiots stupid enough to wandering around in the woods and get bit." Kurtis argued. "Did you know the Ravagers are planning their kills now? Out of every three people that they find, they only eat one. You know what they do to the other two don't you?" He said, looking at Darin.

"Shut up, Kurtis." Allyie warned.

"Er... no?" Darin wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond, but he did.

"They're turned! They become Ravagers themselves!" Kurtis raved.

"I'm really not liking where this is going..." Ladoran swallowed.

"You!" Kurtis eyed Ladoran's wound. "You've been infected, haven't you!? I'm not letting any ravagers stay in my Inn!"

"He isn't a ravager!" Allyie persisted.

"It only takes a couple days for them to turn!" Kurtis explained frantically, back pressed against the wall.

"He's not human! They only need to stay one night, Kurtis!" Allyie continued.

"None of them are human! Does any of that make a difference?!" Kurtis ranted, "Human or not, he'll be a ravager like all the others!"

"What happened to you, Kurtis?" Allyie asked, "You used to let anyone stay here for nothing."

"I have to run this place by myself now! No one else in this hell-hole wants to help run an Inn that gets damn near no visitors!" Kurtis yelled.

A look of sudden sympathy spread across the Priestess' face. "You can't blame yourself for what happened to Dylan."

"Just leave already." Kurtis' words started to sound more like a beg than a command.

Allyie sighed. "Fine. But don't think I'm going to let you mope around and refuse travellers much longer." She stormed out of the inn.

In the awkward silence that followed, Kurtis looked at the three, saying "Well?"

Darin opened his mouth as if to say something, but shut it and led the others outside.

Despite being morning, the tree's shadows made it appear as if night had already fallen outside the tiny village of Nukva. Priestess Allyie had waited for them outside the Inn. "Who's Dylan?" Darin asked the newest question in his mind as he found her.

Allyie starting walking back to the chapel. "He used to help Kurtis run the Inn. One day he and Dylan decided they might be able to go a bit into the woods to find food, while still being close enough to the chapel to be safe." She sighed. "No one really knows the boundaries of the Chapel's protection. You can guess what happened." They had the sense not to question further.

Ladoran felt an odd tingling feeling, and looked down at his shoulder. He lost his breath as he saw the edges of the wound extend like worms across it, sowing his skin back together. While this was happening, he hadn't realized he had stopped walking. Darin turned to call out to him. "Ladoran?"

Ladoran blinked, looking up. "What? Oh.. right." They entered the Chapel.

"I guess you will have to stay the night here. I think I might be able to find bedrolls in the chambers downstairs, wait here." Allyie left them in the main hall.

Ladoran felt his shoulder with a bare hand, no sign of a injury present. Darin noticed this. "Oh. I guess It's about time that healed up. You don't seriously think a bite can turn you into one of them, do you?" He asked.

"I don't know." Ladoran replied, "But I really hope not." He felt his heart burn.

Darin turned back to find that Kaede had approached the front, and was looking at the statue of Scenaria. He walked over to her. "Do you believe in gods?" She asked him.

"Well, yeah. We did encounter that Avatar, remember? She helped mend your mind." Darin said.

"What kind of a cruel god would make me what I am?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"I... don't know." Darin said. They stayed silent, Ladoran pacing about.

"I don't know if I wanted that Avatar to 'help' me." Kaede remarked.

"Huh?" Darin had been caught off guard by her statement.

"The memories of Nyuu..." Kaede went on, "I can remember how lost I was, not being able to remember anything. But at the same time, I wish I could relive those days, having no idea what or who I am. I guess that would be what people mean when they say 'ignorance is bliss'." Darin didn't really have anything to say to that, so he stayed silent.

"Alright, I found a few bedrolls downstairs." They turned to see the Priestess with three bedrolls under her arms. "I hope these will do."

"They're great, thank you." Darin helped by taking two of them gratefully.

"Just roll them out anywhere you want. People don't come here too often, and if a Ravager even tried to come into the village the blessing n this chapel burns them up." Allyie explained.

"Great." Ladoran swallowed, feeling his heart burn.

Not noticing Ladoran's worry, Allyie continued. "As for the rest of the day, you can spend your time anywhere you like in the village. People probably wouldn't appreciate you walking into their homes, though. And don't go past any of the houses either, unless you're looking to rumble with the Ravagers." As she finished explaining this, Kaede left the chapel. "She doesn't seem well. "

"We're grateful for you hospitality, we really are..." Darin said, edging towards the doors, "She just... is a bit shy. Yeah." They heard something pound on the ground outside, followed by something landing on the roof.

"What was that?" Allyie dropped the bedroll she was holding. "Could the ravagers...?"

"I'm uh... going to go find her now." Darin rushed out the doors to find Kaede sitting on the roof of the chapel. "And just how do you get up there?" He called up to her.

"I thought I might've been able to see over the trees." Kaede said, a hand holding up her head. "No such luck." She looked at Darin, who was attempting to climb a tree next to the Chapel. "What are you doing?"

"Trying... oof." He heaved himself onto a thick branch level with the edge of the roof, carefully standing on it. "To get up there." He leaped for the roof, falling short. He hit the side of the roof, grasping at the shingles, winded. He felt a pair of hand grab his. He looked up to see Kaede trying to pull him up. "Thanks." He groaned.

Kaede pulled to lift him up when she slipped on the mossy roof, accidentally kicking Darin in the head as she fell. A vector reached out grab hold of the roof, making a hole but nonetheless keeping them from falling. She heaved both of them back onto the roof, Darin almost landing on top of her.

Catching their breath, the two could hear the yells of Allyie from below. "What in the world's going on up there!?" She called out.

Darin looked down the hole in the roof. "Nothing! We're fine!"

"We?!" Allyie asked, "What are you doing up there anyway!?"

"Just uh... enjoying the view!" Darin moved away from the hole despite the priestess' continued complaints. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Aside from almost falling off a chapel and putting a hole in the roof, sure." Kaede mumbled.

"Oh, come on. Cheer up." Darin said. Kaede looked at him like he'd just asked her to swim across an ocean. "Alright, probably not the best thing to say. Still, no matter what's happened, you can't always be so depressed. My stepmom always said it weakens you. You have to find something that you like to do."

"I can't think of anything I like to do." Kaede said, "Unless maybe there's a zoo somewhere."

"What's a zoo? I've heard my Father use it in an expression before, but I'm not sure what it means." Darin asked.

"That's what I thought." She lay down on the roof, hands behind her head. The moss almost acted like a thin mattress. "I wish none of this happened. I still need to... do things back where I came from, and then a good person like you wouldn't have ever fallen into this mess."

"There's no chance I would choose not to meet you." Darin confessed.

"Huh?" Kaede looked at him in disbelief.

"Uh... well, if I hadn't, this trip would've been a lot more boring, wouldn't it?" Darin said.

"I would have thought you'd rather live a life with your parents than get involved with a killer that people are disgusted with. If it wasn't for this hat, I doubt anyone would be as friendly to us." Kaede had a tone of resentment in her voice. Darin swiftly reached over and pulled off her hat. "Hey, what are you doing!?" She sat up to glare at him.

"You see this hole?" Darin stuck his finger through the hole in the hat. "Your horn's been sticking through it the entire time."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Kaede felt slightly betrayed.

"To be honest, I kind of liked it." Darin said, blushing a bit. "But that's not the point. The point is, even though people saw your horn, that didn't mean they had to be mean." He set the hat on the roof between them. "There must have been some real assholes where you come from."

"Maybe you're right." She thought aloud, feeling the hole in hat and remembering how it got there. "I wonder if Zelda is still chasing us."

"I think we're in the clear." Darin looked at the surrounding woods. "Well, from Zelda, at least."

"What are we going to do…" Kaede pondered.

"With any luck we'll make it to Mayon and somehow meet my parents there." Darin said.

"I mean after that. We're still wanted by Zelda." Kaede said.

"I don't think I planned that far ahead." Darin admitted, scratching his head. "Maybe we'll meet this mage guy and he might be able to help you get that voice out of your head."

A laugh rang throughout Kaede's head. "It's impossible. It's my instinct to kill."

"You've proven pretty well that you can ignore it." Darin pointed out, "Besides, maybe it just says it's your instinct. That doesn't mean-"

"Every single time I come near a human," Kaede interrupted, "I have a damn-near irresistible urge to rip their heads off. If that's not instinct I don't know what is."

"Oh… uh…" Darin wanted to help her so badly, but felt useless. He blurted out "Do you get that when you're near me?"

Kaede looked him in the eyes. "No, and honestly I'm grateful for that." She lay back down on the mossy hole of the roof, and got as close as she could be to relaxed.


	16. Chapter 16

Ladoran once again found himself is the forest of Elwynn, this time in the tiny settlement of Goldshire. To his left lay the two-story Inn that he was so familiar with, constructed of golden brown wood, part painted white, and chimney sticking out of the edge of a red shingle roof. As usual no door was to be seen, only the doorway. To his right there was the large metal dome known as the forge, with all sorts of vents and chutes sticking out of it. Between these two buildings the ground was covered in orange cobblestone, where many people, whether they be Human, Elf, Dwarf, or even Gnome, gathered to talk, duel, or even hold parties.

Ladoran spotted Spaz and Andima conversing by the Inn's door-less opening. He ran over to meet them, waving. "Hey!"

To his surprise, they drew their weapons as soon as they noticed him, both Spaz's gun and Andima's staff aimed at his head. "Traitor!"

"What?!" Ladoran rose his hands in self-defence.

"You killed the both of us!" Spencer accused him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ladoran exclaimed. He recalled the short term Loomis spent in his body. "That wasn't me!"

"Liar!" Andima screamed. She shoved him back with her staff. Ladoran took a step back, only for the ground to crumble away and make him fall into a black abyss.

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Ladoran woke with a start, grasping his stomach. He immediately felt like he was burning alive from the inside out, as if he had an immense heartburn that spread to everywhere else in his body. He then realized he had a great hunger, and could smell fresh meat. As he looked around for the source, his eyes Landed on Allyie, Darin and Kaede. He felt sick to his stomach. "Why do they smell like food?!" He thought, "No... why do they smell so... _good?_" At this point he was breathing hard, realizing what was happening to him. He took a few shaky steps back before turning around and jumping through a stained-glass window. He could see everything around him as if it where blue daylight, and he found he could smell so many different things at once. He ran out of Nukva as the burning sensation inside him subsided, but the hunger remained.

Back in the Chapel, the three woke at the shattering of the window. Allyie sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked around, noticing Ladoran's bedroll was empty. "Where'd your elf friend go?" She asked, still half-asleep.

"I'll go look for him..." Darin stumbled out of his bedroll and forwards towards the double wooden doors. He stopped in his tracks as he stepped into pitch-blackness, losing all visibility as soon as he stepped into the cold night. He stepped backwards into the chapel, "Or perhaps not." He returned to the bedrolls, sitting on top of his own. Allyie was examining the broken window. Blood was one some of the shards. She touched it with her finger, only to gasp and flick it off immediately.

"What was that?" Kaede seemed like she was wide awake.

"The blood is hot to the touch..." Allyie explained, "I'm afraid your friend may be turning sooner than I had thought."

Darin stood up. "We need to go find him." He declared, standing up again.

"Not right now, you don't. The Ravagers would tear you apart as soon as you left Nukva." Allyie warned.

Darin sat back down, repressing a yawn. "What do we do then?" His half-asleep mind drifted back to Kaede, "And did you get any sleep?"

"Your only choice is to wait until dawn at the earliest." Allyie said, ignoring his second question. "Even a little light may deter the Ravagers until you reach Mayon." The three lay back down in their bedrolls, but with so much thoughts in their minds no one was able to actually fall unconscious. After what seemed like an eternity, morning light leaked through the Chapel's front doors.

"You'll want to leave anything that isn't absolutely necessary here." The priestess advised them, "Bedrolls, food, whatever. Things like that will only slow you down. Here's some coins for you to buy whatever you need once you do get to Mayon."She handed them a fist-sized pouch, "There's Gold and Silver in there, but I have no idea what the exchange rates are."

"The what?" Darin asked. Back in Hyrule, one blue rupee was worth five greens, a yellow ten greens, and so on. These things didn't change.

"Never mind." Allyie rushed them out the doors, "I'd feel better if you used as much daylight as possible. Remember, it won't completely throw off the Ravagers, only irritate them. Still, it's a better chance than trying to run through the woods at night." They reached the fringe of the village.

"Er... Thanks for all this." Kaede said, "We'll find some way to repay you."

"Making it to Mayon safely will be good enough." Allyie assured her. "Now keep jogging, or at least a brisk walk. Never just walk leisurely until the trees are at least a few feet apart." Darin and Kaede set off North, into the thick forest. "And Good Luck!" Allyie called after them.

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Darin and Kaede jogged through the woods, Kaede leading. Hopping over the extruding roots, every once in a while they'd slow down to a brisk walk, but often a sound like a twig snapping would spur them back into a jog.

"How are we supposed to know which way is north anymore?" Kaede asked, trying to make herself sound as quiet as possible while still being audible to Darin.

"Just keep going in the same direction!" Darin replied. His eyes noticed movement to the side. "I think we have company." The sound of creatures jumping through the trees above was clearly heard now. An eager ravager jumping down at them, only for Kaede vectors to send him flying in pieces.

"I can handle them. Just don't fall behind!" Kaede called back. Stealth had been thrown out the window. This continued for only a few moments, then the ravagers stopped trying to tackle them, staying away at a safe distance.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep this up..." Darin puffed. Cracks could be heard now, as if the ravagers suddenly decided to start ripping off the tree's branches in anger. "_What the hell are they doing?_" Darin thought. His thoughts were answered when one of these branches came hurdling down at ridiculous speeds and crashing into the dirt and moss. "Shit!" Darin exclaimed out of surprise.

"Keeping running! I can't stop these branches, they're too heavy!" Kaede called back again, warning him. So now the two were not only being pursued through the woods, but the added danger of flying branches made the situation that much more dire.

In the blink of an eye, a branch flew out of nowhere, it seemed, into Kaede's leg. She fell forward with a scream. "Kaede!" Darin stopped and lifted her onto his back.

"Leave me..." She muttered in pain.

"No way in hell!" He started running to the best of his ability, even if it was at a painfully slow pace. The ravagers stopped flinging branches, as if they knew the threat was incapacitated. Darin felt a sudden burst of energy, like some force was lifting his feet for him. Kaede felt like a feather on his back, and an odd sense of invulnerability enveloped him.

This all came to a crashing halt when he tripped over an extruding root, sending him and Kaede to the ground.

He landed on his stomach, Kaede fell on top of him, and his hands were sprawled in front. As he watched the Triforce of Power fade from his hand, he felt that power fade away from himself, too exhausted to get up. The sound of Ravagers became even closer, until he could have sworn they were on top of him.

In that moment, everything seemed to slow down. Darin thought of his parents arriving in Freya only to never find their son, he thought of what he thought would be his legacy, only to end in such an anti-climactic manner. Guilt racked him as he thought of Kaede, who in the end Darin couldn't help. He looked up and saw something that wasn't just in his head. From behind a tree ahead of him, he saw somebody's mud-crusted leather boots step out, the bottom of what must have been a long brown dirty coat following. There was a flash of light and a boom that sounded like thunder, followed by a thumb-sized metal cylinder falling to the ground. Everything turned back to normal, and Darin took a deep breath.

"So you're not dead!" He heard a feminine voice from above call out. One of the boots kicked him to the side, Kaede falling off of him and both of them rolling onto their backs. Darin saw their savoir, a woman with rosewood hair cut to the shoulders, dressed in a dirty brown long coat. Her weapon was out-of-this-world, something Darin hadn't seen before. It looked like A metal cylinder with a wooden handle. The woman stepped forward, her weapon making those deafening boom sounds, accompanied by flashes of light and metal falling to the ground. Darin looked ahead as she continued her onslaught. With each boom, it looked like an invisible force was blowing the Ravager's heads clean off! After her weapon's twelfth boom, only one ravager remained. She pulled the trigger again, but this time the weapon only made a feeble click. Darin heard her utter "Shit!" And reach for her belt, but the ravager was upon her. She dropped her weapon as it bit into her left arm, making her yelp. Reacting quickly, she reached with her right hand into her belt, and pulled out a much smaller weapon, although it in some ways it looked the same, a metal cylinder with a handle. She pointed it at the ravagers head and blew it off. The woman examined her wound, picking teeth fragments out of it, wincing.

Darin helped Kaede to her feet, although he had to act as a crutch for her shattered right leg. "Uh..." Darin tried to say something along the lines of a "thank you" but didn't find the words.

"The hell are you kids doing out here?" The woman pulled a white cloth out of her pocket, and with a little difficulty tied it onto her arm.

"...Mayon." Darin found it impossible to form a sentence. He noticed something strange attached to the woman's left wrist, like a large green metal bracelet, but a large flat side glowed brightly with green light.

"Great, more memory-less strangers." The woman held out a hand. "The name's Casey."

"Uh... thanks." Darin shook her hands, although a bit reluctantly. "But I'm not missing any memories."

"Oh." Casey looked surprised. "I just thought that since you don't look like you're from around here you'd be one of them- us." She looked around. "Come on. I'll get you to a safer place than this." She began walking away.

"Hey!" Darin stumbled over to her, his speed impeded due to helping Kaede. "What about that bite? Don't you know that-"

"I know what happens. Don't worry about me." Casey replied. "I know how to get to Mayon from here." She lifted her left wrist with her right hand, looking at that strange bracelet. "Alright, I'll get you to a safer location." They set off, this strange Casey character in the lead.

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"I think we're in the clear now." Casey declared. The path was now easily distinguishable now, and sunshine flooded the forest floor. She looked at that strange bracelet of hers again. "Continue in that direction," She pointed to an area which was presumably north, "and you should find Mayon. I need to go fix my own problems." She began walking to the west.

"Uh…" Darin struggled for words, "Thanks!" He called out. Casey waved her good hand without looking back.

"Darin?" Kaede muttered.

"Oh!" Darin hadn't realized he'd stopped to stare west. "Sorry." They limped on, towards the capital of Freya.

During the slow journey, Darin though aloud. "Did you notice how she didn't even give us a second look? I wonder what kind of people live here."

"Ungh." Kaede groaned. A broken leg, and the pain that brought with it, did not put her in the mood for chit-chat. Darin seemed to realize this, and stayed quiet. He wondered about his long-term plan. Was he ever going to return to Hyrule? Or was he destined to live in this foreign land?

They reached the end of the forest, and were greeted by a great gate, granting passage through a huge stone wall. The gate almost seemed to invite them inside.

"Would you look at that? We made it!" Darin cheered. Inside the gate, he saw roads of clean cobblestone, buildings of stone, and roofs of green copper. People crowded the street, reminding him of Castle Town.

Kaede's relief was shattered by an incredible pang inside her head. She would have fallen forward if it wasn't for Darin's support. "Kaede?" Darin carefully held her up, facing him.

Kaede's hand reached for his face. She became horrified as she realized she wasn't controlling it. She looked him in the eyes, panic and fear in her own. "Kill me." With another resounding crash of pain inside her head, she fell limp in Darin's arms.

"Hey..." He shook her gently. "What? That's not supposed to happen!" Passersby paid little attention, despite how diverse Darin and Kaede were from the crowd. Darin was on his knees, supporting her head. "What the hell was that!? At least tell me what to do!" Predictably there was no response.

"What an interesting specimen..." Darin looked up to see an old man eyeing them. "Ooh, the male is interesting as well..." The man looked very old, his chin bore a black beard that greyed at the edges. He wore a upper-class suit and hat.

Ignoring his remarks, Darin begged him. "Can you help her?" The man kneeled down to their level. He seemed to completely forget about Kaede, as he was focused on Darin now.

"You could very well be the next step..." The man seemed to be speaking his thoughts, without regard to those who over-heard.

"What?" Darin questioned the man's ramblings.

The man looked behind him, and whatever he saw made him stand up quickly. "I may have to find you again." With that, he stepped over them and briskly walked out of the city. Darin watched him go.

"_What- Who was that?_" He asked himself aloud.

"Darin Landus?"

Darin looked up so quickly his neck hurt. Yet another strange old man was standing over them, but this one was considerable younger. This one wore clothes of the same quality, but bore no beard and had glasses to correct his vision. "I can help your friend." He held a hand out to Darin. "My name is Giles."


	17. Chapter 17

At the northern end of Mayon, a ship docked. From it, the Quadro emerged onto the wooden planks. Spencer held his metal arm inches from its socket. "You promise to behave?" Bystanders thought he was talking to a severed arm. There was a pause, and Spencer felt like he could hear Loomis thinking.

"Fine." Loomis' distinct tone emitted from Spencer's mouth. Spencer himself let go of a sigh, and reattached his arm.

"Gah!" Spencer's knees buckled slightly and his face cringed.

"Spencer!" Andima was ready to catch him if he fell, but he regained his balance. "What was that?" She asked him.

"Reconnecting an arm hurts a lot more than I thought it would..." Spencer mumbled.

"Ah, travellers!"

The Quadro looked behind them to see a man running up to them, dozens of sheets of parchment in his hand. He pulled one out from the stack and handed it to Link. "King Maximillion the Second welcomes you to Mayon, Freya's Capital!" He looked at something to the side, and without another word ran off.

"That was a bit of a weird one." Midna commented on the eccentric they had just encountered.

"It's a map..." Link looked at the parchment that was handed to them.

"Wow." Spencer completely missed the entire encounter, mesmerized by the city. The docks were slightly downhill from the city walls, making it look even more towering and magnificent. Beyond the walls was a castle almost as big as Hyrule Castle, if not bigger. It was constructed of white stone, with red shingles capping the roofs.

"Hey, come on." When Spencer looked back down, the image of the castle was still burned in his eye by the reflected light. The rest of the Quadro were already halfway down the docks, Andima beckoning to him. "We need to go find Darin!"

The Quadro wandered through three of Mayon's our districts, meeting many diverse people, but no Darin. Even though the majority seemed to be human, the rest of Mayon's residents had a vast spectrum of differences, from scaly skin to fur, from four legs to no legs, and so on.

"Why do I have the feeling this is a direct consequence of my actions..." Loomis' voice emanated from Spencer. They walked into the southern district, they noticed the streets had been thinning until eventually they were completely empty.

"This is a bit creepy..." Spencer commented.

"Where'd everyone go?" Midna pondered. A burst of screams echoed from further into the district, around a corner in the street.

"Never a dull moment!" Spencer ran in the direction of the screams.

"You have to stop running into fights like this!" Andima chased after him. The screams abruptly stopped, the only sound being a distant call.

Spencer saw Kaede walk around the corner, making him stop in his tracks a few feet away. He rose his metal arm to wave. "Kaede! Where's Darin?" His mood turned from concern to surprise as one of her vectors seized his waving arm with speed invisible to the naked eye. "What the?" Spencer looked again at Kaede, this time noticing the fresh blood covering her dress, and even more worrying: The total lack of emotion in her eyes. Before he had another word, her vector snapped his mechanical arm in two, as if it were a twig. "Yeaagh!" Spencer fell to his knees in crippling pain.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Andima increased her pace towards Kaede, only to be struck down when Kaede flung Spencer's arm at her.

Link drew his sword and advanced slowly, watching Kaede vectors and making sure to stay a fair distance away. Midna followed him, "What just happened!? Did she just do that? I may as well be blind!"

Link was trying to decide on a course of action when the source of the now-close calls became clear: Darin was running at Kaede, sword in hand. "Diclonius!" He swung at her.

"Stop!" Link called out, but it was too late. Kaede's vector acted swiftly and yanked the sword out of Darin's hand, causing him to fall on his face in mid-sprint.

Spencer was in a painful haze, his brain not working as fast as it should. He could hear Loomis yelling inside his head to run. "Darin...?" He shook his head. "Ru-"

Kaede suddenly sent the sword flying, straight into Spencer's chest. He felt the Hilt of the sword slam against his chest before the sharp pain of the blade.

"DAD!" Darin was looking up from the ground at his father's demise.

----------------------------------------

An hour earlier, Darin and Kaede had arrived in Mayon.

"My name is Giles." Giles offered his hand to Darin, who was supporting an unconscious Kaede on the ground. Darin looked at him in a kind of stunned expression. Giles let his hand fall to his side. "Alright, then." He crouched down to be at the same level as Darin. "Don't you think we should get off the street?" He seemed kind, yet somehow he acted as if he knew Darin for a long time.

"Who are you?" Darin blurted out to man so ready to help them.

"I'm Giles. I won't do anything to hurt you, don't worry." Giles reassured him.

Despite his common sense telling him to ignore this man, Darin agreed. "Alright."

"Great." Giles moved into a position to help carry her.

"Wait." Darin objected, "I can do it." He picked up Kaede, One arm under her knees and the other supporting her neck and head. Giles noticed the Triforce glowing on his hand.

"So be it, then." Giles led him down the street, and only now people were beginning to take notice to a young man carrying a woman through the city.

"Filth!" Darin looked behind them at the source of the insult, seeing a man wearing a kind of regal-looking red uniform, surrounded by four similarly clothed people. He waved a sign that read "You don't belong here!" The clothing they wore depicted a large black "F". The building they were standing in front of was also draped with banners of the large black "F" on a red background.

"Ignore him." Giles grunted. It seemed he wasn't terribly happy with these people. "In here." He opened a door to a two-story house, the second floor had two tall windows, while the bottom floor's windows had been boarded up. Darin followed him up a staircase and back to the front of the house, into a room where a queen sized bed was set up between the two tall windows. Darin laid Kaede on the bed, and Giles pulled up two chairs from a nearby desk. Darin looked around the room. The walls were covered in bookcases, most of which were filled with books. The parts of the room that weren't lined with bookcases had desks that were cluttered with all sorts of items that looked out-of-this-world.

"Who are you?" Darin asked again, looking at this man's home.

"I understand if you don't trust me." Giles sat in one of the wooden chairs he'd pulled up next to the bed. "But I need to know everything if I can hope to help Lucy."

Darin looked up at him, surprised. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Ah, I apologize. Let me explain." Giles took a deep breath. "How many people have you met that have no recollection of their early years?"

"Only her." Darin looked at Kaede with concern. "Do you know what's happening?"

"I think so, but let me finish." Giles continued, "Starting about six years ago, people started showing up out of nowhere, with no memory of their past life. Some would remember things like what species they are, what their possessions do, but nothing of their life."

"My parents disappeared six years ago." Darin explained.

"I know." Giles said. At this Darin looked at him with mixed emotions of fear and interest. "In fact, your parents and their friends are somewhat the cause of this, although it would have become much worse had they done nothing. I'm not entirely sure what, but some powerful force was trying to merge all the worlds he could find. After your parents stopped him, I'm not sure what happened. Some other power separated the worlds again, but erased the memories of anyone who wasn't in the world they were supposed to be in. My theory is that they did this to prevent anyone from seeking the power to cross worlds, and start this whole mess again."

"What does this have to do with her?" Darin asked. He was barely able to follow Giles.

"Obviously she was one of the individuals who got their memories wiped." Giles explained, "I've tried to cross worlds before, but some kind of barrier only permits me to look into other worlds, and perhaps sometimes obtain objects, but never living things. I've made an effort to document my findings." He glanced around at the books in the room. "But I don't know everything. Tell me what you know, all the way since you met her."

Darin spent the next few moments trying to recollect everything that's happened in the past few days, every minute asking if he knows enough to help her yet. He left out parts he didn't think were related to her, such as the man they met just before Giles or Kurtis, the selfish Innkeeper.

Giles leaned back in his chair. "I'll see what I can do. If you don't mind, I would be able to work more efficiently were I alone."

Darin looked at Kaede while biting his lip. "Fine." He stood up and walked to the door before turning back. "No matter what, don't harm her." With Giles' nod, he left the room.

Darin wandered downstairs, into what must have at one point been the living room. There was a boarded-up fireplace, and presumably behind the walls of books there were boarded up windows, only visible from outside. The only other thing in the room was a Grandfather clock, ticking away. Darin walked over to it, watching the pendulum move from side to side. The clock was made of polished wood and gold, and had a thin layer of dust coating it. In a few minutes he heard Giles' muffled call from upstairs, and he briefly wondered how long he'd spent looking at the clock's pendulum. He quickly went back to the room, taking two steps at a time on the stairs. He burst into the room, only to be disappointed to see Kaede still unconscious. He tried to calm down, "Well?" He asked. He sat down in his chair, his heart still beating quickly.

Giles got up from his chair and paced around the room. "This is bad. This is very bad."

Darin's heart sunk to his stomach. "Is she going to die?" He asked.

"Worse. Much, much, worse." Giles didn't stop pacing. "Her... instinct, if you will, is taking control."

"What?" Darin asked.

"The part of her genetic coding that tells her to eliminate humans is trying to take full control of her body." Giles explained.

"It'd be great if you didn't suddenly start speaking in a different language." Darin's knee had begun to uncontrollably shake.

"Sorry." Giles said, "Did she say anything before passing out?"

Darin took a deep breath. "She said... she wanted me to kill her."

"Then she knew what was happening." Giles sat down again.

"What can we do?" Darin asked, fearing the worst.

"She may be able to hold off by herself, but we don't know that for sure." Giles said. "All we can do right now is wait."

"How do I sit idly by when something like this is happening?!" Darin asked him.

"I can answer questions. Talking is good for calming down." Giles seemed unbelievable relaxed.

Darin stopped himself from bursting into doing something foolish. "Fine." He found he was breathing hard now in addition to a fast heart rate. "If she was able to so willingly slaughter innocents, why does she feel guilt over it now?"

"Ah, that one is rather simple." Despite his calm tone, Giles was constantly watching Kaede for any sign of movement. "When you met her, she had split personalities. The one you grew familiar with was a child-like one, who couldn't fathom causing harm to anyone. The other would be her "real" personality, one that has grown bitter through years of abuse and betrayal. She had long ago accepted the voice in her head as a kind of friend, the only ally she had in a world that thought of her as a mistake. But when... an avatar for the gods, did you say?" Darin nodded, "put her personalities together rather than remove the innocent one, she lost most, if not all her bitterness, but then she could remember how to speak properly, and from what you've told me control her... vectors, as you call them."

"I kind of thought that's what happened." Darin said.

"The spell the Queen of Hyrule used was quite a crude one. Not only did it restore her memories and leak some to Zelda, it restored them as if they all happened yesterday. After having the complete innocence of the one you called Nyuu, we cannot imagine the kind of guilt that she felt after that." Giles sighed, but still watching Kaede, unblinking. "Did you keep anything harmful away from her?" He asked.

Darin thought the question odd. "No. Why?"

"Really?" Giles almost looked surprised. "The fact she didn't harm herself in self-hate says some very good things about you."

Kaede suddenly opened her eyes, gasping as she gained consciousness. Darin noticed this immediately. "Kaede! Are you alright? What happened?" He noticed an emotionless look in her eyes. "Kaede?"

Giles looked up. "She won by herself?" He asked.

Suddenly, all of Kaede's vectors reached out at amazing speed, stopping inches away from Darin head. Her face grimaced as if she were straining. Darin stood up in surprise, knocking over his chair. Kaede kicked him with surprising strength, jumping out of the bed. She looked over to Giles.

"Giles!" Darin tackled him and threw him out of Kaede's range. Darin got back up and ran at Kaede, tackling her and unintentionally crashing out the second-floor window. The next few moments were hazy for the both of them. A crowd gathered as Kaede rose from the cobble stone street, her vectors picking glass out of her back. Whispers ran through the crowd. Screams were heard from far off as Kaede's Instinct used her vectors to cut the entire crowd in half, blood covering the streets and severed bodies falling to ground around Darin. As she limped off, Darin tried to get up, only to find glass shards in his arms. His vision blurred, eventually fading out.

-----------------------------------------

The Kaede who was not herself slowly wandered through the streets of Mayon, instantly slaughtering anyone who came in range of her vectors. The Diclonius felt no regret, nor pleasure. At least consciously. It came across the great open doors into the forest, butchering the guards without a glance.

"_Not a nearly as populated as here._" The Diclonius thought. It turned back to return deeper into the city when it heard almost inhuman moaning and groaning come from behind her. It turned to see Ladoran stumbling through the gates, eyes tightly shut. His skin had become pale and clammy, and his arms and legs seemed longer, stretching his leather armour.

"So... Hungry..." Ladoran winced and hunched over.

"_What is this?_" The Diclonius thought. _"Has someone else already starting forming this world into their own?_" The Diclonius approached Ladoran, who at the sound of someone coming near him opened his eyes.

At first, all he saw were the emotionless red eyes looking at him. Then he saw the horrific bloody mess that used to be the streets. "My gods... what have you done?" He asked. "Why..." He grasped the Diclonius' neck with both of his feeble hands.

The Diclonius thought him a threat and without a second thought, severed his head. As Ladoran's numb hands fell from its neck, the Diclonius walked back into the residential district.

-----------------------------------------

"We will be docking in Mayon within a few hours, Milady." The captain of the Royal Traveller said.

"Good." Zelda replied, satisfied. She walked back her cabin to find Wesley and Yadis waiting for her. "Let's go over it one more time."

"Yeah, yeah." Wesley seemed irritated, leaned back in his chair. "Aim to kill, stay quite a few meters away. We got it. What was the pay again?"

"Names cleared and a home in the Castle, as long as you agree you quit your... business." Zelda recited.

"Fine by me." Wesley sighed. "I tire of this bullshit anyway. I'd rather go after the people that everybody knows are evil so we don't have a price on our heads."

"Despite having these feeling you stayed for so long. Why?" Zelda asked.

"I found Giles to be... a well of information. I have insatiable curiosity." Wesley said, "How long now?"

"A few hours. Any thoughts on what happened to the third one of you?" Zelda sat down at the table.

"Ladoran? I have no idea what the hell happened to that poor sap." Wesley let out a kind of small laugh, showing no compassion for who was once his leader. "However, I am still hungry. What else is there on this boat?"

"You've eaten enough to feed a man for weeks in a day. We can't spare anymore for you." Zelda said.

"We just need to hurry and get there. One last, easy job and this will all be over." Wesley said.

----------------------------------------

"Three point one four one five nine two six five three..."

Giles' rambling was the first thing Darin heard when he woke. It took a moment for his most recent memories to come rushing back. When they did, he sat bolt upright and looked around and the smashed window. The blood and corpses still covered the street, and screams could be heard further down. "How long?" He asked.

"What?" Giles looked dazed.

Darin jumped out of bed, not realizing that he should've been in pain. "How long has it been!?"

"About thirty minutes. Hold it right there!" Giles yelled at Darin as he ran for the door. Darin stopped. "I did manage to heal you but you need to listen to me! For some reason she isn't able to harm you using her vectors, and maybe not any part of her body. And you must know that that isn't who you know out there! She- it is now nothing more than a bloodthirsty Diclonius, and it'll kill without warning or hesitation. You need to kill it as soon as you find it!"

"I'm not killing her!" Darin objected. He reached for the doorknob.

"Wait a damn minute!" Giles yelled after him. "You have to kill it! There's no other way!"

"I will find another way!" Darin opened the door.

"My gods, at least take this!" Giles tossed a sheathed sword at Darin, who caught it.

"Thanks, but I'm going to bring her back." He unsheathed it and ran out of the house. Adrenaline made him ran past the bodies without a second look. She was easy to follow; the Diclonius carved a bloody path through Mayon's residential district. Darin ran on the path calling after her. "Diclonius!"

"Yeaagh!" Darin heard somebody familiar scream in pain as he caught sight of Kaede at the end of a long street. Whoever it was, he couldn't see them around the corner.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He heard a different voice yell out now, in anger.

"_Mom!?_" Darin thought. As he ran closer to the corner he saw that Spencer was the one who had yelled in pain, and he was grasping a severed arm.

Blind rage filled Darin. "Diclonius!" He ran at her and swung his sword, part of him hoping she would stop him. Sure enough, a vector caught the sword and yanked it out his hands, him falling to the ground in mid-sprint.

Then, as Darin lifted his aching head, the Diclonius did something Darin didn't predict: The sword was shot directly through Spencer's chest. "DAD!" Darin called out without even thinking about it. From that point on, everything happened very slowly to Darin. His father took a step back, looking down at the his mortal wound.

"Huh?" With that final word, Spencer fell forward onto the cobblestone street. Darin could see looks of complete disbelief on Andima, Midna, and Link's faces, their jaws dropping.

When he looked up, Darin saw the Diclonius holding its head and grimacing, as if in pain. Once the Diclonius snapped out of it, it glanced at Darin with hatred and ran past him. As time returned to normal, Darin could feel his heartbeat throughout his entire body, and stood up as Andima ran for her husband. She turned him over and pulled out the sword, covering the wound with her hands the best she could. She acted wordlessly, tearing a strip off her robe and making an attempt to bandage him. She looked at Darin, a distraught expression of disbelief and sadness on her face.

Darin clenched his fists so hard he thought he might dig holes into his palms. He could feel the back of his right hand glowing so brightly it burned. Without another word he turned and took off after his father's murderer.

In no time, he caught up and could hear one side of an argument. His rage subsided enough for him to slow down and listen. "-care about him?! No! You've had your eighteen years of chances!" The voice belong to Kaede, but never before had he heard that much anger in her voice. "All I'm doing is reshaping the world for us! You! Killing humans is just part of it!" Dain had heard enough.

He ran at her, yelling "MURDERER!" As she turned he landed a powerful blow across her face, making her take a few stumbling steps back. All four vectors launched towards him, stopping inches away from him. A look of frustration appeared on the Diclonius' face. Darin took this as an opening and charged, only for her to dodge his swing and kick his legs out from under him. Darin grasped her ankles and pulled, gravity pulling her to the ground. He took this chance to pin her to the ground and land repeated blow to her head. A hand reached and grabbed his neck, strangling him as hard as it could.

Darin choked, and the other hand came up and tightened its grip. He could feel his head filling with blood, and his lungs' sudden lack of oxygen. He spotted and grabbed the Diclonius' last unbroken horn. "You can't..." The Diclonius grinned at his attempt.

"I _can_." Darin gasped. With the Triforce of Power glowing and burning hot, he forced the horn with all his might. It broke off in his hand, a sudden look of shock and pain spreading across the Diclonius' face as her hands fell from Darin's neck. He fell over, coughing hard. Once he regained regular breathing, he looked at the Diclonius. She was unconscious. "Please don't tell me..." He felt her neck. There was a pulse. "Thank the gods." He lifted her in his weakening arms, and began his stumble back to Giles' home.


	18. Chapter 18

Link and Midna approached Andima. Link's legs felt weak, like they were ready to buckle at any given moment. Andima was crying into Spencer's chest now, accompanied with her pleading. "Wake up... just please open your eyes..."

"I..." Link tried to say something to comfort her, but he couldn't think out anything that was even close to appropriate. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned to look he saw someone holding Spencer's severed mechanical arm. "Hey! Put that down!" He yelled at her with anger that was redirected at someone who didn't deserve it.

The woman dropped Spencer's arm and help her hands in front of her, as if she was being arrested.

"Link, wait." Midna put a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from doing anything else to scare the woman. "Winry?"

The woman in question had blonde hair that was done up in a long ponytail, and she wore a white shirt with black jeans and jacket. She could have been no older than twenty-five. "Do I know you?" She asked. She looked past them at Spencer's corpse, noticing that he was where the severed arm came from. "Oh my god, I- I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

"Who's she?" Link whispered to Midna. Andima still hadn't pulled her attention away from her dead husband.

"She made... Spencer's..." She almost found it hard to say his name, "arm."

Winry went on to explain without prompt. "I-I'm sorry. It' just that it looked like my design, yet it had been done so rushed I was wondering who could have possibly have done it... I really didn't mean any disrespect!"

"Gods damn it." Midna muttered. "Thanks to the Gods of Hyrule, she can't remember a damn thing."

"If... if you want..." Winry continued nervously, "I could fix the arm before... before you say goodbye."

"I'm not saying goodbye." Link and Midna were startled to find out Andima had been listening all along. "This isn't the end, it can't be. I'll bring him back..." Her voice was muddled with the sounds one makes after they've been crying.

Winry looked at them with honest sympathy. No one knew where they would go next, or what they should do. They were lost.

---------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Darin kicked the door in at Giles' house, where Giles himself was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. "My gods, you actually brought her back." He saw that both their horns now were broken and partially covered with hair. "Why didn't I think of that..." Darin walked past him wordlessly into the bedroom, where he set her down on the bed. Giles has partially boarded up the shattered window.

"How do I save her?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"What? Er, If I'm correct she's just in another internal struggle again. And if history repeats itself we'll have to kill her. There'll be no more chances." Giles said. He sat down, even if Darin didn't.

"If it's a fight inside her head then get me inside her head then." Darin told him.

"Inside her head?!" Giles thought the idea was preposterous. "Well, it could be done... but..."

"But what?!" Darin was losing his temper at this point.

"There could be any number of side effects! To your or her mind! And that's even if you do help her to win! If you lose, you'd become a vegetable and no-one would be able to get anywhere near her!" Giles warned.

"At this point, do you really expect me to care?" Darin asked him in anger. "Do it."

"I can't let you do this! Even if she dies your family still needs you!" Giles argued.

"My father's dead!" Tears started to well up in Darin's eyes. "Win or lose, it's better than doing nothing, no matter the side-effects!"

Giles sighed and rubbed his temples. "Fine. Lay down on the bed." Darin did so, lying next to Kaede and taking a deep breath. Giles placed a hand on their foreheads. "You won't feel a thing." He looked like he was concentrating. "Good luck."

---------------------------------------

"I'm only trying to make a world fit for you, us, to live in!"Kaede's instinct, still the form of a child, berated her in the black void of her mind. Kaede herself was on the invisible ground, feeling helpless and self-loathing. Instinct appeared to have two broken horns, while Kaede didn't have any at all. "I'm going to get back up, and this time I'm not letting you stop me from killing who I want. That includes your _pathetic_ little boyfriend."

"Pathetic?" Instinct looked for the source of the intruding voice, only to find Darin's fist strike her across the head and knock her to the ground. "So you're the little shit that's caused her so much trouble." Darin said. The figure of the very angry little girl didn't shake him.

"Darin?" Kaede was confused. "What? How?"

Darin offered a hand to help her up. "It's me, come on."

Kaede slid back. "No. No way. You're not real."

Darin grabbed her hand and lifted her to her feet. "Yes I am." He pulled her close and kissed her. They both felt like their hearts were pounding so hard they were going to break their ribs.

"How dare you betray me!" Instinct rose to her feet as their kiss ended, Kaede still confused, but now experiencing and odd feeling she'd only had once before. "Without me you'd have died like a whimpering dog years ago! _You need me."_

"I've had more than enough of you!" Darin kicked the child-like monster away.

"And what are you going to do, half-orphan?" Instinct's taunt was met with a more powerful kick that sent her to the ground. "You can't kill me. You don't even belong here!"

Darin's fists were shaking with rage. "No. But Neither do you." He growled. He looked back at Kaede. "Well?"

Kaede walked to the angry avatar of instinct lying on the ground. She looked at Darin, who returned her glance with a look of anticipation. She looked down at the face of the being that had haunted her for eight years. "You ruined my life."

"I _ saved_ your life!"Instinct yelled at her.

"Shut the hell up." Kaede talked calmly. "You caused pain and suffering to anyone that could have been my friend. Get out of my head." She looked back up at Darin. "Darin?"

"What?" Darin wasn't sure what she wanted from him.

"You're getting... blurry..." She said.

"I don't know what you-"

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The next thing he knew Darin was sitting the bed, next to a still-sleeping Kaede. As he rose, Giles made a snorting kind of noise and blinked rapidly. "You're awake! What happened?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He grabbed his glasses from a nearby table and put them back on.

Darin sighed. "I... I don't know."

"You don't know?" Giles asked, disappointed a bit.

"I woke up before anybody won... but I think we're good." Darin tried to get out of bed only to find his legs feeling like wet noodles.

"A mind link like that drains quite a bit of energy." Giles explained, noticing his trouble. "Are you sure we're safe?"

Darin lied back down on the bed, looking at Kaede. "Yes." It wasn't long before he fell to a natural slumber.

Darin returned to consciousness hours later, sunset sunlight leaking through the broken and boarded-up window. He sat up, then rubbed his eyes, realizing Kaede wasn't there. Giles was also not inside the room. "Uh oh…" He groaned. He stood up and stretched, spotting a knife among stands of pink hair, which were strewn all over the floor. "What the hell?"

Darin stumbled to the door of the bedroom, still half asleep. He walked down the hall to a smaller room where Giles was, sleeping with his head on a desk full of books. Darin shook his shoulder. "Giles. Wake up, Kaede's gone."

"Hmm?" Giles woke up, "Gone?"

"Well she wasn't in bed." Darin explained.

"This isn't good." Giles stood up, "If her instinct is still in control…"

"I think I'm living proof that didn't happen." Darin pointed out.

"Yes… Quite right." Giles stood corrected. At that moment, they both heard a loud crash from the ground floor. They only glanced at each other before rushing down the stairs.

On the ground floor, they looked into the living room, all the books still lined the walls. However, the grandfather clock was on the ground, facing up. Kaede was on her knees, picking things out of the clock. Blood still stained her clothing, and her hair had been cut to shoulder length, but it still masked her broken horns.

"Kaede?" Darin stepped into the room. She lifted the pendulum out of the clock, looking at it curiously.

"That was very expensive clock…" Giles almost sounded depressed.

Darin carefully approached her. "Kaede?" He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nyuu!" She turned around and scrambled away, startled. Darin's jaw dropped.


	19. Chapter 19

Winry had led the group to her house, located only a block outside of the area Kaede's instinct had ravaged. Other people that lived in the areas untouched by instinct began to emerge from the houses, and investigate now that no more screams were heard. However, no one emerged from the bloody mess that was once most Mayon's southern district. The only buildings that were not penetrated were Giles' house and the building that housed the building draped with red banners, which was bolted, barred, and barricaded from the inside.

"I've tried to preserve him the best that's possible," Winry walked into the living room after ascending the basement stairs. "but we should... put him to rest as soon as we can." There was no response from the three, and Winry decided to keep busy by adding unnecessary kindling to the fire she had started only a short while ago. Link sat on a chair by the door, Midna sitting on his lap. Andima sat at a circular dining table with her head in her hands, which were bloody from trying to stop Spencer's bleeding.

She suddenly slammed her hands on the table and sat up so fast it knocked her chair over. Midna levitated off Link's lap as he got up in time to grab her should and stop her from storming out the door. "What are you doing?" He said, his voice heavy with sadness.

"I'm going to find my son and avenge my husband. Let me go." Andima growled, her voice wrought with anger. She tried to pull free of Link's grip.

"You're forgetting something here!" He tried to reason, "Don't you remember her telling us that someone was the one convincing her to do all those horrible things? It may not be her fault!"

"Even if that is true, she still betrayed us for listening to it!" Andima pulled Link's hand off with her own. "Don't follow me!" She yelled at them, then slammed the door on the way out.

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In the streets of southern Mayon, Spencer woke in a silent realm. When he stumbled to his feet, it seemed like all the colours in the world has been diluted. When he looked up the clouds where spiralling above, unlike any weather he'd seen before.

"What in the world..." Spencer rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "_Wait, what?_" He looked at his hand, which had somehow become flesh again. The next thing he noticed was that absolutely nothing populated the streets, not even litter. He also realized he couldn't smell anything as well as hear anything. Not even a faint wind. When he tried to take in a deep breath, he found he couldn't somehow take in the air, although it didn't feel like he was suffocating. He decided to aimlessly walk down the street, in hopes of finding anything to explain his situation.

Walking through the empty streets, he found gates that led into a bleak-looking forest. "Where the hell am I?" He asked aloud.

"Spencer?!" Spencer turned at the voice that addressed him, to see Ladoran looking at him.

"Ladoran! How did you get here?" Spencer asked bluntly, "Or... where are we?"

"Spencer, don't tell me..." Ladoran was putting pieces together in his mind.

"And where is everyone? It's like a ghost town here... or rather a ghost city..." Spencer scratched his head.

"You couldn't be more accurate..." Ladoran looked hesitant. "Spencer... if you're here..."

"Funny thing, really! I can't remember how I got here!" Spencer forced a laugh.

"You're dead." Ladoran said.

"What?" Spencer looked at himself. "Uh... no I'm not?"

"Yes, you are!" Ladoran insisted, "This is the spirit realm!"

Spencer opened his mouth to argue, but considered what he'd seen so far. "That... would explain a lot." A feeling of dread began to wash over him. "Uh... Well then it's just as easy as finding my body isn't it? Ehehehe..."

"Er..." Ladoran looked like he was delivering news to wife that her husband had died in a war, which actually wasn't too far off the mark. "Unless you were born in Azeroth, I don't think it works like that." Ladoran approached him. "If I'm right... you should be passing on in a matter of hours. I'm sorry, Spencer."

The dread now in full effect. "What? But... I didn't die! I can't remember dying!" Spencer felt like his legs were made of lead.

"That's... common." Ladoran said with an apologetic tone. "If you have anything you want to tell someone, I think I could pass on the message for you."

"This is bullshit! I'm not done here!" Spencer's dread turned to anger. "I want- need to help Darin and his... friend find some place to live!"

"I'm sorry." Ladoran said. He felt he shouldn't tell Spencer what became of Kaede. "I need to go before somebody tries to bury my body." He walked past Spencer's ghost.

"Wait." Spencer said. If tears existed in the spiritual realm, he had no doubt he'd be crying. "Tell Andima... Darin... and the others... that I love them."

Ladoran felt horrible for him. "Can do." He continued to finding his own body.

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Darin swallowed. "Kaede?"

Kaede was sitting next to a broken grandfather clock, which moments before she had tipped over and started dissecting. Her clothes were still stained with blood, and her hair had messily been cut short. Darin noticed a cut on her hand. "You've been cut..." Darin took a step towards her.

"Nyuu..." She slid away from Darin, a look of child-like fear of the unknown on her face.

"Oh dear..." Giles muttered.

"Nyuu?" Darin crouched down and held a hand out to her.

"I did say there could be side-effects..." Giles whispered.

"Shh." Darin shushed him. Giles felt somewhat undignified by being shushed by someone decades younger than him, but nonetheless backed out of the room.

"Don't you remember me?" Darin asked gently. Nyuu didn't advance, but she didn't back away either. "Darin? I'm your friend." He took another two steps towards her, still offering his hand.

Nyuu looked at his hand, then very hesitantly, she reached out her a hand of her own and grabbed his. Darin let out a sigh of relief, followed after a pause by pulling her towards him and hugging her tightly. "Nyuu!" she exclaimed out of surprise.

"I thought I'd lost you..." Darin sobbed quietly.

Giles looked into the room. "Darin... she isn't-"

"I know." Darin choked.

Shortly they were back upstairs, where Nyuu occupied herself with the many strange objects in the room while Darin and Giles talked. "Is she ever going to remember anything?" He asked Giles.

"There's no way to know right now." Giles said. "You said she has been like this before?" He asked.

"Yes... when I met her." Darin looked at her picking up random objects off the tables, from dominos to a small metallic device that flipped open to reveal a lit screen and several buttons.

"Perhaps it'll be possible to help her regain her memories again." Giles took off his glasses to clean them.

"No!" Darin tried to revise his statement when Giles stopped to look at him. "I mean... I think we should wait. Last time... she wasn't always like Nyuu, sometimes she was..." He looked for the right words, "Hell, I don't know how to say it. Just trust me on this one, alright?"

"If you wish. You've known her longer than I have, so I'll let you make the decisions she can't." Giles said.

Darin looked at Nyuu again. Now she was fiddling with a flash light, flicking the switch repeatedly and watching the light go on and off. "And where did you get all these... things... anyway?" Darin asked.

"Ah, yes." Giles almost looked to enjoy talking about this subject, "In the last six years I've made great strides to looking into other realms, and sometimes even being able to take objects, which is where all these souvenirs come from. However, I'm still struggling with the force that prevents me from actually crossing over."

"Don't you think there's a reason that a force is trying to stop you?" Darin questioned him.

"I've thought of that myself, I understand why." Giles sighed. "They just don't want the same thing that happened six years ago to happen again."

Darin's attention was again drawn to Nyuu. "By the gods!" He jumped out of his seat and snatched another item from Nyuu's hands.

"Nyuu?" She just looked at him in interest.

Giles recognized the item he took as a handgun. "You know what that is?" Giles asked him.

Darin set it back on the table. "My father had one... I don't exactly know what it is, but I know enough not to play with one."

At that point, they all heard someone pound on the front door. "Darin?! Are you in there!?" It was the voice of his mother.

Before they had time to react, Nyuu was running out of the room to answer the door. "Nyuu!" Darin called after her and chased her, jumping over the rail to the first floor instead of using the stairs, he was still only just behind Nyuu when she opened the door. In the moment that followed, Darin's heartbeat came to a crawl.

Not noticing her son, Andima was consumed by her rage. "TRAITOROUS MURDERER!" She sent a powerful punch into Nyuu's gut, sending her falling backwards into Darin. Darin held on to her as she started to cry and double over. "D-Darin?" Andima was stunned. "G-get away from her!" She tried to pull Darin away from Nyuu.

"Stop!" Darin glared at her.

"What's going on here?" Giles descended the stairs to enter the scene.

"She- I-" Andima was thinking everyone must have gone mad. "I'm not the bad guy!"

"I think you'd better come with me." Giles ascended the stairs, and Andima was left with Darin, who was still trying to pacify a Nyuu sobbing in pain.


	20. Chapter 20

"Ye Gods." Wesley uttered.

Zelda, Yadis, and Wesley stood in Mayon's southern district, surveying the carnage. Windows and doors had been destroyed, and blood nearly covered the entire street. Yadis paid particular attention to how no house was left untouched. "It was thorough." He commented.

Zelda's hands were clenched fists, shaking uncontrollably. "We were too late." Her voice was thick with anger.

As the sun finished setting, the other citizens of Mayon helped the remaining guard load the bodies of the dead onto carts in preparation for a mass-burial. "What kind of monster would do this?" Wesley asked.

"You know damn well what monster did this." Zelda growled, "You and Yadis go east, I'll head south. Let's kill this thing before anymore innocents are hurt."

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Giles led Andima into the room where the blood-stained bed was, and shut the door behind her. He head for the windows, saying "You are... Andima, correct?" He started talking while closing the curtains.

"Who are you?" Asked Andima, skipping the formalities.

"Ah, I apologize. Call me Giles." Giles replied, sitting down in a chair. "Please, take a seat."

"I'll stand." Andima objected.

"As you wish." Giles sighed. He filled her in on what had happened, from when he found Darin and Kaede to when she woke up as Nyuu. "I don't expect you to accept all of this." He finished.

"That I'm supposed to believe that a quick nap turned my husband's murderer into an innocent little girl?" Andima growled.

"Well-"

"How do you know that that monster is gone?" Andima didn't wait to hear his response, gripping hard the back of the chair that was offered to her. "How am I supposed to believe that she won't slaughter my son without a moment's warning?" Andima took in a deep breath. "You know magic, don't you? You linked my son's mind with that monster."

"Er... yes, but..." Giles didn't like where this was going.

"If you're so powerful, why can't you revive my husband?" Andima started to sound like she was pleading.

"I thought you might ask that." Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them. "I do not know how to resurrect your husband."

"THAT'S A LIE!" Andima's mood took a swing back to rage, the chair smoking under her grip.

"Please calm down." Giles asked.

Andima removed her hand from the chair, leaving a scorch mark. "I'll do whatever it takes. If need be, I'll sacrifice my own life!"

"I do know a spell that would bring your husband back but..." Giles stared at the floor, "Without his soul, your husband would be a shadow of his former self. He wouldn't have much, if any, emotion. If you were lucky he might learn one or two words before he died of old age."

Tears ran down Andima's face, and she sat down on the bed. "What do I do?" She asked.

Giles was relieved she had calmed down. "I'm sorry for your loss. I would suggest you take your son and return to Hyrule. Freya's become a place no one should have to live in."

Andima stood up and headed for the door. "Tell Darin to find me in an hour." Andima muttered before leaving the room.

"It would be wise to tell me where-" Giles was cut off by the door slamming.

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Darin helped Nyuu to her feet. "There we go. Are you alright?" He asked.

"Nyuu..." She rubbed her stomach. They heard the door slam upstairs, followed by Andima coming back down.

"Mom?" Darin didn't know what to say. Andima stared a t the floor as she walked.

"Nyuu!" Nyuu yelped as Andima suddenly grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall.

"Stop it!" Darin pleaded.

"You..." Andima had planned to threaten Nyuu, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see a murderer in Nyuu's eyes. Instead, she slammed her against the wall one more time before letting go and storming out of the house.

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In the street, Andima made her way through the people making an effort to help the city recover. She almost walked right past Zelda without either of them noticing. Zelda was the first to take action, drawing her bow and arrow and calling out. "Stop right there!"

Andima kept walking, choosing to ignore the Queen of Hyrule.

"I said stop!" Zelda called after Andima a second time. She relaxed her bow and chased after her.

"Go away." Andima said, not turning around.

"You're still an accomplice to-" Zelda began.

"Shut the hell up!" Andima whipped around, yelling at her. "If you want your killer so bad, go south! It's the house with one window still intact."

"You... you're just giving up?" Zelda hadn't expected this.

"I just don't care anymore." Andima turned and walked away. "Everyone I love dies. Leave me alone."

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Wesley sat with Yadis in a bar, drinking a pint of ale and conversing with the bartender. "So why the hell would you still be running now of all times?" Wesley asked.

"I heard about the big scare down near the cities' gate, but I don't have the guts to check it out myself." The bartender was a burly bald man. "It's also a good time to keep running a bar, a lot of people come here to drown their sorrows."

"Well aren't you a greedy bastard." Wesley finished his mug of ale. "Another pint my good man."

"Certainly." The bartender took the mug to refill it.

"Do you not think we should be searching for this monster?" Yadis said.

"The killin' has stopped, so there ain't no rush. Ah, thanks." Wesley accepted another mug from the bartender, who then walked away to serve other customers. "Besides, do you actually want to come face-to-face with that thing? Hey, is that...?"

Wesley and Yadis strained their eyes to look out the window and into the darkness, seeing Ladoran hunched over and walking by.

"That would appear to be our leader." Yadis observed.

"Leader schmeader. He's our target now. Let's go!" Wesley downed the last of the pint, then hopped off the barstool and stumbled before running out the door. He looked to his right and sure enough, saw the back of Ladoran slowly walking away. "Hey boss!"

Ladoran turned around slowly. "W-Wesley?"

The sight of Ladoran startled Wesley. "Woah. You look like hell." He said. Ladoran's skin was clammy, and had turned a pale purple-gray, and his limbs had stretched so much that his hands almost dragged across the ground. His eyes had turned red, and when he opened his mouth to speak, Wesley could see that his teeth had grown sharp and long.

"Help me." Ladoran begged. His hand clutched to his stomach.

"Oh, I'll help you alright." Wesley drew his dagger. "I'll put you out of your misery." He took a step toward Ladoran.

"What are you doing." Yadis asked.

"My job." Wesley said.

"Wesley..." Ladoran groaned.

"Then so shall I." Yadis grabbed his dagger, and with a swift movement sank it into Wesley's back.


End file.
